Spain arrests teen woman suspected of recruiting for IS

The woman was detained in the northeastern city of Figueres, the interior ministry said in a statement

MADRID: Spanish police on Monday arrested a 19-year-old woman on suspicion of recruiting for Islamic State militants, the latest in a string of women detained for allegedly sympathising with the armed group.

The woman, who was not identified, was detained in the northeastern city of Figueres, the interior ministry said in a statement.

She is accused of the "indoctrination and recruitment of people with the goal of sending them to combat zones controlled by Daesh," the ministry said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State extremist group.

Her arrest is linked to objects seized from a suspected Islamic State member, a 21-year-old Moroccan national, whom German police detained in Stuttgart last month after he fled Spain, the ministry said.

Read: Spain arrests 18-year-old woman suspected of Islamic State links

"With this arrest, a cell that was very active in promoting the ideology of the terrorist organisation Daesh, and capturing new fighters and offering logistics support, has been neutralised," the interior ministry said.

Spanish police carry boxes of evidences as they leave the house of an 18-year-old Moroccan woman suspected of recruiting other women via the Internet to the group Islamic State (IS), in Gandia on September 5, 2015. PHOTO: AFP

On Saturday, police arrested an 18-year-old Moroccan woman accused of preparing to travel to Syria to join the group, which has carried out numerous kidnappings and executions.

And in July, police arrested a Spanish woman on the Canary Island of Lanzarote suspected of recruiting pre-teen girls and teenagers of both sexes to send to areas controlled by the Islamic State.

Read: Spain, Morocco arrest 14 suspected of recruiting for Islamic State

Spanish authorities believe the woman maintained contact with Islamic State militants in Syria, including a facilitator who gave her orders for recruiting girls and arranging their travel to Syria.

Islamic State has claimed numerous killings and kidnappings in Iraq and Syria, after declaring an "Islamic Caliphate" in territory under its control.

More than 100 people from Spain are suspected of having joined the fighters in Iraq and Syria and authorities fear they may return to launch attacks.