Dismantled in Catalonia a new jihadist cell

USPA NEWS - The Catalan Police, in northeastern Spain, arrested 11 people Wednesday in several towns in Catalonia, in an operation against jihadist terrorism ordered by the National Court. The operation involved 360 agents.

The eleven arrested are accused of belonging to a terrorist organization, among other crimes. The police operation, during which were carried out eleven house searches, took place in Barcelona, Terrassa, Sabadell, Sant Quirze del Vallés (Barcelona) and Valls, in the province of Tarragona. In the first three months of this year were 30 people arrested in Spain for alleged links with jihadist terrorism. Police said those arrested Wednesday had the "intention" of acting in Catalonia, where they formed a cell dedicated to attracting young people, their indoctrination and sent to Syria and Iraq to fight in the ranks of the Islamic State.

The Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz, said the 1,264 mosques in Spain, 98 follow the line radical Islam, linked to Salafism. Of these, 50 are located in Catalonia. "In this community lives almost one third of the Muslim population living in Spain, and concentrated in a particular area," said the minister in an interview on a Catalan radio station. In the interview, he explained that some of the most radical mosques are in Salt (Girona), Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona) and Reus and Torredembarra in the province of Tarragona.