By: Said Temsamani
On January 19 the Moroccan authorities said they had broken up a recruitment cell for Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The aim of the cell was to enroll and recruit young Moroccans who have embraced jihadist ideas, in order to send them to camps linked to Al-Qaeda. AQIM, the global terror network’s north African branch, evolved from the GSPC, a breakaway group of militant Algerian Islamists who refused to lay down their weapons when Algeria’s civil war ended.
Investigations conducted by the security services have led to the identification of more than forty Moroccan volunteers sent from April 2012 to participate in Jihad among factions linked to al-Qaida, the statement notes that these young people have followed intensive trainings to participate in military operations and suicide bombings.
Morocco
Among those identified several elements are serving sentences of imprisonment under the Terrorism Act, in addition to two former detainees of Guantanamo with great expertise in handling weapons acquired in the camps of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
According to these investigations, three components of the cell, originating from Ceuta, were killed in suicide bombings that targeted sensitive sites within one of the areas of tension, the source said.
The proliferation of terrorist networks to enroll young Moroccans to join jihadist camps is now a source of concern at the security level. Those terrorist groups plan to undermine the peace and stability of the Kingdom. It is worth noting that the organization of Al Qaeda and its allies, enroll young Moroccan volunteers for the execution of these plans.
In a context marked by the French military intervention in Mali against armed Islamist groups linked to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and a hostage operation by groups linked to al-Qaida on the gas complex of Amenas, in southern Algeria, Morocco expressed, Saturday, Jan. 19, its concern about the “proliferation” of these networks in the kingdom. For the fifth time since last fall, the Moroccan authorities said they dismantled a new recruitment cell of Al Qaeda in the kingdom.
TRAINING FOR THE JIHAD
The goal of those terrorist cells is to send these young people do “the ‘jihad’ within terrorist organizations linked to al-Qaeda. The investigation determined that 40 young Moroccans had been sent to “factions linked to al-Qaida,” among these particular people were “two former camp inmates [U.S.] Guantanamo” at Cuba.
Morocco, as well as Algeria, authorized overflight by aircraft of the French army operating in Mali against armed Islamist groups. France hailed the “very positive” role that Morocco is playing in the ongoing crisis in Mali. Moroccan Salafist dignitaries have instead strongly denounced the military intervention of Paris, calling it a “crusade,” qualifed all Muslims who are involved directly or indirectly as “infidels”.
About the author:
Said Temsamani is a Moroccan political observer and consultant, who follows events in his country and across North Africa. He is a Senior Fellow, Merdian International Center Washington DC, Founder and CEO “Public Initiatives” Consulting firm and Former Senior Political Advisor, US Embassy Rabat, Morocco.
