According to the Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz, the Spanish National Police have arrested four suspect jihadis in the north African enclave of Ceuta who allegedly formed a terrorist cell.

Diaz said investigators were hit by the similarities between the suspected cell members with those who perpetrated the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, an incident wherein two Islamist gunmen forced their way into and opened fire in the Paris headquarters of the satirical magazine killing 12 people.

According to The Associated Press, Diaz said, "These are two pairs of very radicalized brothers who are highly trained militarily, physically and mentally and are prepared to carry out an attack, and ready, according to the police, to blow themselves up in the act."

A ministry statement said the arrests were made early on Saturday morning and the investigators were assessing the cell's "infrastructure to carry out terror attacks in the country."

On instructions given by a judge and the state prosecutor attached to Spain's National Court, two houses in Ceuta were searched in Saturday morning raids.

Spain and Morocco have arrested dozens of suspected jihadi militants and recruiters in recent years, most notably around Melilla and Ceuta, two cities on the Mediterranean coast and surrounded by Morocco.

The region has a history of Islamic violence: In May 2003, an attack in Casablanca killed 45 people, including the 12 suicide bombers.

In 2004, there were nearly simultaneous, coordinated bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, in the morning of March 11, 2004, three days before Spain's general elections and two and a half years after 9/11.

The identities of the alleged jihadis arrested were not immediately available, and the released statement said the investigation was still ongoing.