RABAT, Morocco, May 6 (UPI) -- A detained member of the militant cell that allegedly bombed a cafe in April in Morocco swore allegiance to al-Qaida, the country's Interior Ministry said.
An April bombing in Marrakesh killed 16 people, mostly tourists, and injured 23 others. Moroccan officials said the attacks bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida and a YouTube video surfaced a week before the attack depicting suspected al-Qaida members threatening the country.
The Interior Ministry announced on state-run television that the leader of the cell, a Moroccan, "swore allegiance to al-Qaida," Bloomberg News reports.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the North African branch of the terrorist network, is active in the region.
Authorities in January claimed they arrested 27 people who were part of an al-Qaida cell plotting a terrorist attack in the country.
"The ongoing investigations will confirm for sure whether he's an ideological follower of jihadi thought or has an organizational link to al-Qaida," government spokesman Khalid Naciri told the news agency.
Morocco was caught up in the so-called Arab Spring this year before King Mohamed VI announced that the government was willing to protect political freedoms and undertake reforms to address protester demands.
