Morocco: “Africa’s premier security exporter”

This last week the Director of Morocco's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) Cherkaoui Habboub revealed that Islamic State in the Sahel had hoped to expand and establish operations in Morocco as well as recruit Moroccans to fight abroad. In the first two months of this year, Morocco has dismantled two different terrorist cells, with this latest interception a reminder that ISIS or “Daesh” as it is known across the region, is far from neutralized. Habboub said the groups “do not hide their desire to target Morocco through propaganda platforms” and said Morocco’s aggressive counterterrorism posture made it a target.

Morocco’s success in countering such acts of violence is well documented and stems of course from its own experience of bloodshed. In May 2003, in Casablanca, 12 members of al-Salafiya al-Jihadiya, a Salafi-jihadi terrorist organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), attacked the Farah Hotel, a Jewish community center, restaurant and cemetery, as well as a Spanish social club. The series of coordinated suicide bombings rocked the country, leaving 45 people dead and hundreds wounded

Two weeks after the 2003 attacks law 03.03 was passed which expanded the definition of terrorism to include incitement. The law also allowed police to hold people in custody longer in cases of terrorism and it provided enhanced intelligence-gathering and counterterrorism investigations procedures. 

The Moroccan government also realized it needed to go beyond legal reforms and created a three-pronged strategy that included security, socio-economic policies and support in the religious field. Most notably King Mohammed VI, as Commander of the Faithful, worked to promote moderate and peaceful interpretations of Islam with a series of measures that included satellite television channels that promote the official government version of Islam, developing an imam training academy in Rabat that trains not only Morocco’s 50,000 imams but also hundreds of imams from elsewhere in Africa, Europe, and Asia in moderate Islam. Additionally, King Mohammed VI created the Mohammedan League of Ulema to promote research in moderate Islam, ensure conformity in Moroccan school curricula, and conduct youth outreach. 

It is, however, the silent work of Morocco’s security forces that is to be commended; Morocco is the only country in North Africa not to have experienced a major terrorist attack for more than a decade. And it was in the first Trump administration that the U.S. put out a report that suggested Morocco was an “exemplar for counterterrorism strategy”. I re-read that report this week considering the links back to ISIS and Morocco’s ability to dismantle this latest Daesh cell. “America First does not mean America alone,” the report said, indicating the essential role of key international partners, with Morocco being one such partner. And the report went on to say in the years since 9/11, Morocco has built an effective program for counterterrorism (CT) and countering violent extremism (CVE), leading U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) to label Morocco “Africa’s premier security exporter.”

*Kieran Baker is an Emmy award winning journalist who has started up various networks including Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg TV Africa and TRT World.