RABAT, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) --The Moroccan authorities arrested on Friday two alleged supporters of the Islamic State (IS) group over suspicion of preparing for terrorist attacks in the kingdom, Morocco's Interior Ministry announced.

The suspects, aged 18 and 25, were arrested in the southern cities of Inzegane and Ait Melloul, the ministry said in a statement.

The initial investigation revealed that one of the suspects is an ex-convict under the anti-terrorist law and another is a university student at the faculty of Sharia (Islamic Law), the same source pointed out.

The ministry said the two suspects had links with other terrorist elements, arrested in July 2018 in Fez and Safi, with whom they were coordinating to obtain firearms to use them in their plotted terrorist operations against sensitive targets in Morocco.

The suspects had also contacts with IS supporters outside Morocco and tried to benefit from their expertise in the field of manufacturing explosive devices and poisons, in preparation for the execution of their terrorist projects in the Kingdom, it said.

Morocco has busted over 57 terrorist cells since 2015, including eight cells in 2018.