Spanish Guardia Civil arrests four people in Badalona (Barcelona) for their links to network dispatching Jihadis to Syria

Two children under 16 are among those arrested, who were preparing their imminent departure for Syria via Morocco. In recent days, the investigation has revealed that the two children were planning to leave on Tuesday morning from Badalona to Morocco and had already contacted members of the recruitment and dispatch networks to facilitate their journey through Turkey.

The two children arrested, who had abandoned their academic training in Badalona to undertake Koranic studies at a madrasah in Tetuan (Morocco), where immersed in a process of radicalisation and were about to travel to the Syria-Iraq conflict zone. Their immediate family and friends were fully aware of their plans, especially the mother, who had another child who was killed in the same conflict as part of the terrorist group Harakat Sham al-Islam.

The individuals arrested were under investigation due to the high degree of radicalisation present in their immediate social surroundings. In fact, a brother of the children had already been dispatched to Syria following recruitment by Jihadi groups and died in 2014. It is believed he joined the ranks of terrorist groups aligned with DAESH.