Spanish police said yesterday they had arrested 14 people, thought to be Moroccans, in a wide-ranging operation against Islamic militants. Spanish media said those arrested were suspected of recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, though police would not confirm this. “At this time, an ongoing operation against Islamic terrorism is in progress,” a police spokesman said. “It is thought they are all Moroccans”.

Police arrested 11 in the Barcelona region of Catalonia, including one minor, while another two were detained in Aranjuez, south of Madrid, and one in the resort city of Malaga.

No weapons or explosives were found, press reported. The arrests came in the final stages of the Madrid trial of 29 suspects, mainly Moroccan, accused of killing 191 people by blowing up trains in Madrid in 2004 in an attack that has been linked to al Qaeda.