Spain arrests Moroccans suspected of links to Belgian Islamist attacks

Spanish police stand guard outside an apartment building during a sweeping operation at some 12 locations against Islamist militants, in which eight people were arrested, in Barcelona, Spain, April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Albert Gea

Spanish police arrested eight people and raided 12 properties in Barcelona, in an operation against suspected Islamist militants carried out in conjunction with Belgian police, police said on Tuesday.

Some of those arrested were suspected of links to the Belgian suicide bombings in March of last year, which killed 31 people at the Brussels airport and on a metro train, a police spokesman said.

The detained were all Moroccans aged between 21 and 39, he said.

The raids follow an eight-month investigation of a group of suspected Islamist militants with links to organized crime in the Barcelona area, the police said in a statement. The investigation remains open.

Not including Tuesday's arrests, Spain has detained 22 people in 16 separate operations this year in connection with Islamist extremism, according to Interior Ministry figures.

Source: Reuters; (Reporting by Sonya Dowsett and Paul Day; Editing by Larry King)