Spanish police raid jihadist recruitment cell in Madrid

Spanish police arrested eight people in pre-dawn raids in Madrid yesterday against a jihadist recruitment network led by a former Guantanamo Bay inmate.

Police have so far launched 12 raids in the Spanish capital, detaining eight people. The investigation remains open, Spain's interior ministry said. The Islamic cell found and sent recruits for the militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) based in Syria and Iraq.

ISIL fighters made rapid military gains in Iraq last week, seizing the second-biggest city Mosul and coming within 80km of Baghdad's city limits. Online photos apparently show ISIL militants massacring captured Iraqi soldiers during the offensive.

"It should be highlighted that the leader of this cell lived in Spain after passing through the Guantanamo military base, having been arrested in Afghanistan in 2001," the ministry said.

Spain's government has said it fears battle-hardened Islamist fighters may return to Spain from Syria and other conflict zones under the influence of al-Qaeda-inspired groups, presenting a threat of attacks.