Two Spanish members of DAESH arrested in Turkey when trying to return to Europe

The two detainees, subject to an International Arrest Warrant applied for by the Guardia Civil, had departed from Ceuta to Syria in 2014, together with their husbands, two high-profile Jihadists responsible for dozens of murders, with the aim of joining up with the terrorist group. Since then, they had been at the heart of the territory controlled by DAESH as members of its rank and file.

The level of indoctrination in terrorist extremism experienced during this time by the detainees and their ties to notorious, high-profile members of DAESH makes them extraordinarily valuable members for the terrorist organisation, particularly within the Spanish-Moroccan framework.

In this regard, the threat to public safety represented by radicalised individuals that travel to the conflict zone to join up to terrorist groups means that the Guardia Civil needs to maintain an ongoing effort to control and monitor the activities carried on by these individuals during their membership of these terrorist structures, with the aim of minimising both the risk of their return to Spain and of them inciting others to commit terrorist acts in our country or against Spanish interests overseas.

The complex investigation carried out by the specialists of the Intelligence Service of the Guardia Civil, culminating in the arrest of these two individuals, has been underway for more than two years, during which time the ongoing bilateral cooperation with the Turkish authorities and security forces has been fundamental, as has collaboration with various allied intelligence services with which the Guardia Civil has maintained lengthy and intense cooperation.

Since the Counter-Terrorism Alert was raised to Level 4 on 26 June, 2015, the Guardia Civil have stepped up all lines of inquiry related to structures to recruit and send terrorists to conflict zones, and bolstered the already intense exchange of operational information with the main Western intelligence services and, specially in relation to those links detected among Spanish residents and other individuals with ties to terrorist groups overseas, which today poses one of the main threats to Western countries.

Since 2015, the year in which the Ministry for Home Affairs raised the Counter-Terrorism Alert Level to 4, the State law enforcement agencies have arrested a total of 177 Jihadist terrorists.

The Ministry of Home Affairs sends out a reminder that, through the initiative STOP RADICALISMOS, citizens can collaborate through a series of channels open to them so that, in a confidential and secure manner, they can notify the State law enforcement agencies of possible cases of radicalisation in their vicinity through the web page www.stop-radicalismos.es, the mobile phone app for citizens security alerts Alertcops and the free hotline 900 822 066.