2 held in Spain for suspected IS links

Two Brazilian brothers were detained in the town of Estepona in southern Spain on Monday on suspicion of having links with the Islamic State (also known as IS or Daesh), reported Xinhua.

The suspects are accused of spreading Islamic State propaganda material. They were arrested by Spain's Civil Guard following an investigation assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States and Brazil's Federal Police.

The Civil Guard said in a press release that the brothers were "immersed in a radicalization process and used encrypted instant messaging platforms to show their active support for the terrorist organization Daesh."

The officers found in the brothers' possession images of "terrorist activities carried out in various countries, manuals for the preparation of explosives, poisoning, cybersecurity, hacking, as well as documents justifying the violence of the execution of suicide attacks."

The Civil Guard said that the arrest has also helped Europol, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, find Jihadist contacts in other European countries, which have led to further detentions.

The brothers have been taken to Madrid, where the National Court placed them into preventive custody while the investigation continues.