Morocco has arrested six suspects after an online video showed masked men pledging allegiance to the head of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group, officials and media said.
Media reports said the video that went online last week was filmed in Morocco and showed three masked men holding the ISIL flag and introducing themselves as soldiers of the ISIL, Al-Monitor reported Sunday.
The video purported to announce the creation of "Jund al-Khilafa" or soldiers of the caliphate, in the Maghreb.
The interior ministry said three people were arrested in connection with the video on Saturday and three more on Sunday.
A statement did not identify the suspects but said the head of the group and two of his accomplices "were jailed in 2008... for their involvement in terrorist plots" and links with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
A cell phone used to film the video was seized by security forces and police, as was a blade one suspect held while all three were "pledging allegiance to (ISIL chief) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi", it said.
According to the interior ministry, the suspects also "threatened to carry out criminal acts" in Morocco after undergoing military training at ISIL camps in Libya, Syria and Iraq.
Morocco has announced the arrest of several would-be militants in recent weeks, and last month it boosted security across the kingdom to counter any threat.
Authorities say that more than 2,000 Moroccan terrorists, including some with dual nationality, are now fighting in Syria and Iraq where the ISIL terrorists currently control swathes of territory.