Morocco Dismantles 210 Terror Cells, Thwarts 500 Attacks Since 2002

Presenting a progress report on the fight against terrorism, the General Controller at the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), Mohamed Nifaoui, indicated that the Moroccan strategy since 2002 has led to the dismantling of 210 terrorist cells, the arrest of 4,304 individuals or the foiling of more than 500 destructive projects.

To face the terrorist dangers that threaten it, Morocco adopts a comprehensive, inclusive and multidimensional security approach, he said, before stressing that the BCIJ has achieved positive results in the fight against crime, managing to dismantle 83 terrorist cells, 77 of which were unrelated to Daesh.

Furthermore, 21 terrorist cells were dismantled in 2015, compared to 19 in 2016, 9 in 2017, 11 in 2018, 14 in 2019, 8 in 2020 and one cell in 2021. Eight of these cells were armed, Mohamed Nifaoui informed, also noting the arrest of 1,347 people in the context of terrorist cases, including 54 with criminal records in terrorism cases, 14 women and 34 minors.

Regarding people returning from conflict zones, the BCIJ has dealt with 137 cases, including 115 returnees from the Syro-Iraqi zone, 14 from Libya and 8 people who were repatriated from Syria, he specified.

Nifaoui also reported the presence of some 1,659 Moroccan fighters in the Syro-Iraqi conflict zone, including 225 with a criminal record in terrorism cases, while the number of those who have returned to the country has reached 270 people, 137 of whom have had their cases handled by the BCIJ, while 745 others have died on the ground, most of them in suicide bombings.

As for women, there are about 288 who have joined the Syro-Iraqi zone, of whom only 99 have returned to the country, in addition to 391 children, of whom only 82 have returned, he specified, noting that Morocco has also contributed to thwarting terrorist projects abroad, through joint coordination and cooperation with its partners and the exchange of information and experiences.

According to the General Controller of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations, the successes achieved on the security level are explained by the proactive security approach, supported by legal legislation. This approach has made it possible to dismantle several terrorist cells and thwart several destructive operations, especially after the emergence of the so-called Islamic State organization on the scene of the conflict in the Syro-Iraqi region and the emergence of its cells in other regions of the world, he insisted.