Two ISIL suspects arrested in Spain

Spanish police have arrested two Moroccan citizens in Madrid and Barcelona suspected of being ISIL members.

The pair had been ready to attack in Spain and were very active online, in particular using social networks to radicalise and recruit Islamist militants, according to an Interior Ministry statement.

It went on to say the pair had pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State and were in effect operating two separate terrorist cells. Both were potentially dangerous, receiving directions from ISIL and ready to launch attacks.

Since Spain raised its terror threat level in 2015 after the Paris attacks, 163 people have been arrested on suspicion of extremist activity.