MADRID: The Interior Ministry says police have arrested four people in the Madrid area suspected of spreading pro-jihad propaganda and recruiting followers.

A ministry statement said Civil Guard police Tuesday arrested two Moroccans in the town of Pinto and one Moroccan and a Spaniard in the town of Ciempozuelos, south of the Spanish capital.

The statement said the four formed part of an organized group that worked intensely to spread extremist material on the Internet. It said the group made contact with hundreds of people and then selected some to be radicalized and indoctrinated.

Spanish police have arrested dozens of suspected pro-jihad activists and recruiters in recent years.