(MENAFN- Morocco World News) Moroccan authorities announced Wednesday they have conducted an operation that captured 52 extremists inspired by ISIS, and who had planned several attacks in the kingdom.

The operation which took place on July 19 investigated 143 suspect in several regions in the country.

The perpetrators planned several attacks 'targeting state prisons, security establishments, festivals and recreation centers,' the ministry of Interior said in a communique. The same source added that the suspects had been using social media to manipulate minors, convincing them to travel to the conflict zones.

When officials searched the homes of the suspects, they allegedly found instructions on how to make explosives and poisons and how to set off explosives remotely, firearms, knives, ISIS flags, a quantity of live ammunition, and a variety of tools that could be used in the manufacture of explosive devices.

According to a same the source, some of the people who were arrested had planned cyber attacks on the government to undermine the security of the Kingdom. The attack would have severely impacted the economy and affected government institutions.

159 terrorist cells have been dismantled since 2002, 38 of them in the past three years.

The 52 suspects will be brought to trial after the investigation is completed by the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ).