Spanish police break up Muslim 'terrorist cell' ready to attack Madrid

(CNN) Spanish police arrested three men Tuesday morning while breaking up a jihadist terror cell that was "ready to attack Madrid," the country's Interior Ministry said.

The men -- all Moroccan nationals living in Madrid -- allegedly belong to a group tied to ISIS, according to the ministry.

"At the moment the cell was broken up, its members were fully radicalized and in a phase of total assimilation and commitment to the terrorist ideology -- demonstrating their full disposition to carry out an attack in Madrid," the ministry said in a statement.

Spain's national police acted Tuesday morning because the cell's members were acting unpredictably and "had shown full willingness to ... carry out acts of terror," according to the agency.

The three men, who are between the ages of 26 and 29, were being interrogated in custody Tuesday, an Interior Ministry representative said. Authorities can hold them for up to five days before pressing charges.

The suspects became radicalized while living in Madrid over the past several years, a Spanish security source briefed by investigators told CNN.

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