Morocco Foils Terror Plot, Suspects Algerian Involvement

The satellite geolocation of the area where this terrorist cell was dismantled indicates that it is located on the eastern border of the kingdom, an area used by terrorist groups as a rear base for logistical support in weapons and ammunition, explains a statement from the DGSN-DGST pole, specifying that they found in the area scanned a cargo of weapons and ammunition buried in an isolated place at the foot of a rock. These weapons were "packed in plastic bags and newspapers published in Mali, including weeklies dated January 27, 2025," the note points out.

According to observers, this new information allows us to suspect the involvement of the Algerian intelligence services in this case, the latter, according to reports, having in the past provided support to armed groups operating in the Sahel and Sahara region. Algeria is also accused of being lax in the control of its southern borders, which have become a breeding ground for arms trafficking. The lack of security cooperation between this country and its neighbors, particularly Morocco, constitutes a "danger for the region," estimates Habboub Cherkaoui, director of the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) of Morocco.

In an interview with Hespress, Ihsane Hafidi, a university professor and expert in security policies, explained that "the objective behind this attempt to implicate the Malian authorities is to undermine the political, security and military rapprochement between Rabat and the new authorities in Bamako," recalling that "the southern neighbors of Algeria reject the maneuvers of its intelligence services in the region. In the past, Malian officials have accused Algiers of encouraging terrorism in the area, which is another indication of the involvement of the Algerian secret services in this case."

The dismantled terrorist cell tried "to operate through an intermediary, identified in the statement of the Directorate General of National Security and Territorial Surveillance as a cadre within the Committee of External Operations. This modus operandi is that of Daesh, which has benefited, in the African Sahel region, from the organizational and logistical infrastructure set up as early as the 1990s by the Algerian Armed Islamic Group. Algeria has exploited this structure and tried to use it to destabilize the region, a reality well understood by African countries," the expert continued, noting that Algeria "encourages security instability in the region."

And to conclude: "Algeria does not want to see Morocco’s important deadlines and its economic development go smoothly. It has exploited the Polisario for years to undermine the stability of the Kingdom and, today, it is instrumentalizing extremist groups for the same purpose. The refusal of security cooperation with Rabat is a well-defined Algerian strategy to achieve this goal." "While Morocco is making exceptional efforts to secure its borders