Today, March 25th, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) of the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DST) managed to dismantle a terrorist cell consisting of four militants, aged between 24 and 28, operating in the city of Oujda and linked to the so-called “Islamic State” organization.

The BCIJ stated, in a communiqué, that the operation comes within the framework of continuing efforts to neutralize the dangers of terrorist threats and dismantle extremist organizations that aim to disturb the public order and threaten the security and stability of the Kingdom.

The communiqué also highlighted that this terrorist cell has been dismantled and its imminent extremist plans aborted thanks to close coordination between members of the DST and the American intelligence services “which confirms once again the importance of international cooperation to combat terrorist threats, and demonstrates the efficacy of the distinguished partnerships that play a major role in ensuring the success of operations against terrorism and violent extremism”.

The BCIJ explained that the members of this terrorist cell were arrested in simultaneous security operations in four different residential neighborhoods in the city of Oujda, during which the members of the special forces affiliated with the DST had to fire sound bombs to neutralize the danger emanating from the main suspect. The second suspect was also arrested on the roofs of neighboring houses while trying to flee, in conditions that endanger him and others.

The searches carried out at the home of the main suspect enabled the special forces to seize an important sum of money in European currency, and four passports belonging to the members of the cell that the suspect was keeping in a safe place at home, as well as weapons, and other controlling information devices that will be subjected to professional inspection.

The same source added that the research and preliminary investigations carried out showed that the members of this terrorist cell declared their “loyalty” to the alleged emir of “ISIS”, and planned to join the camps of this terrorist organization in the Sahel region to carry out combat operations, before they were mobilized and assigned by one of the leaders of “ISIS” with the mission to implement terrorist plans inside the Kingdom, targeting vital national installations, security headquarters and military barracks.

The preliminary search procedures indicate that the arrested suspects carried out several reconnaissance operations to monitor and identify the sensitive targets and facilities to be targeted, as they were seeking to gain experience in the manufacture of explosives and improvised explosive devices, as well as their coordination with the aforementioned leader in ISIS to provide the necessary logistical resources and support to finance their sabotage projects.

The BCIJ stated that this new pre-emptive operation confirms the continued growth of terrorist threats that lie in wait for the security of the Kingdom and the safety of citizens, and the insistence of those who have been imbued with extremist ideology loyal to “ISIS” to implement terrorist projects aimed at disturbing public order.

On a final note, the communiqué indicated that the arrested persons were placed under pre-trial custody following the judicial research conducted by the BCIJ under the supervision of the Public Prosecution in charge of terrorism, in order to uncover all the contributors and participants involved in this terrorist cell, as well as monitoring its regional extensions and possible links to terrorist projects on the global level.

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According to a report released by The Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), Morocco scored a high improvement of its level of internal public security thanks to the new security policy adopted, which was characterized by a set of measures, such as establishing new security structures and strengthening their means of intervention, as well as training security forces on ways to confront new forms of modern criminology.

According to the data provided by the report, the high ranking of internal security that the Kingdom has known is also due to the new coherent security approach, the involvement of citizens, and their awareness of the importance of their role as partners of the security forces, in order strengthen the internal security of the country.

Regardless of the high ranking of security achieved by Morocco, the rate of attacks is still considered high, as it recorded an increase of 60% during the period between 2003 and 2017. The report attributed the reason for this increase to a set of reasons, most notably the consumption of hallucinogens, uncontrolled urbanization, in addition to the inequality factor.

The number of police officers in Morocco per 100,000 people increased significantly, from 147 in 2003 to 200 in 2017. However, the Royal Institute for Strategic Studies(IRES) considered in its report that the security body still needs to be further strengthened, in order to enable it to face the development of various aspects of crime in the Kingdom.

Regardless of its active commitment to fighting terrorism, and its societal choices based on openness and the consecration of a tolerant intermediate Islam, the kingdom still experienced a decrease in its ranking in combating terrorism after it was one of the countries free from the effects of terrorism. Morocco’s score within this index fell from 119 in 2002 to 132 in 2018, before retreating to 92 in 2019. The Royal Institute for Strategic Studies linked this decline to the terrorist attack that killed two Scandinavian tourists in the Imlil district of Marrakech in 2018, by two young men belonging to a group that pledged allegiance to ISIS.

On the other hand, the report considered that Morocco’s ranking in social stability is still somehow fragile, and attributed this to a variety of factors, including inequality in economic development, brain drain, and migration in general.

According to the Global Peace Index, the report recorded that Morocco’s position lowered from the 66th rank in 2008 to the 83rd rank in 2020, explaining this by the instability in the region, and also by the protests that the Kingdom witnessed, but Morocco, despite this decline, is still one of the most stable countries in the eastern region, the Middle East and North Africa.

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Abdellatif Hammouchi was born in the heart of rural Morocco, in the village of Beni Fteh, in the pre-Rif, near the town of Taza.

He graduated from the University of Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah in Fes and joined the police as an officer in 1993.

Soon after Hamidou Laanigri left the DST a day after the Casablanca bombings of 16 May 2003 and was appointed as the Director of the General Directorate for National Security, he was replaced by his deputy Ahmed Harrari, who was replaced by Hammouchi in December 2005.

The shining star of Hammouchi was never a luck and did not come by chance, many officials who accompanied him in his professional career emphasized. The man was a person who worked hard.

Hammouchi’s knowledge of the Islamic movements and his excellence in dealing with terrorist cell files enabled him to obtain the most sensitive security positions in 2007 as the youngest director general of the internal intelligence service at the age of 39.

His success in different difficult tasks enabled him to win the confidence of the country’s monarch and combine two sensitive security positions at the same time, after his appointment in 2015 as Director General of National Security.

Hammouchi has always been the leader in the field as in the case of “Argana” bombings in which he led the intelligence work himself and put the intelligence data in the hands of the national division of the judicial police to complete the procedures and make arrests.

Lately, Hammouchi led, supervised and monitored simultaneous operations carried out by the Central Judicial Research Office in several Moroccan cities, during which they managed to dismantle a terrorist cell and seize equipment that its members had in their possession.

Any neutral observer can’t but applaud the many decisions made by Hammouchi. These decisions combine strictness, transparency, and humanitarian loads as well, and respond to the pulse of the street in addition to the positive and rapid interaction with the complaints of citizens.

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