Indians burn Isis flag
File photo: Demonstrators burn the Isis terror group's flag Getty

Spain's Interior Ministry says police have arrested six suspected members of the Islamic State armed group, four of them in Spain and one each in Britain and Germany.

A ministry statement Wednesday said the man arrested in Britain was a 44-year-old Salafist imam who led the group and who was sought by several countries. He was detained in the city of Birmingham at Spain's request.

The statement said investigations began in 2015 when police detected videos promoted by the imam that documented the recruitment, indoctrination and sending of a young Muslim resident in Spain to Syria.

The ministry said the cell worked to recruit new members and actively promoted IS armed activities.

The four arrests in Spain occurred on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, where the cell was allegedly based.