Country Report on Terrorism 2023 - Chapter 1 - Morocco

Overview:  The United States and Morocco have a long history of strong counterterrorism cooperation.  The Government of Morocco continued its comprehensive strategy that includes vigilant security measures, regional and international cooperation, and counter-radicalization policies.  In 2023, Morocco’s counterterrorism (CT) efforts continued to mitigate the risk of terrorism.  The country continued to face sporadic threats from individual actors or small, independent terrorist cells, the majority of which claimed to be inspired by or affiliated with ISIS.  Human rights groups reported that authorities at times used CT laws to arrest, punish, and deter journalists and critics of the government and to block websites.   

2023 Terrorist Incidents:  According to data from Moroccan law enforcement, only one terrorist incident, the killing of a police officer, was reported in Morocco in 2023.          

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security:  Morocco investigates, prosecutes, and sentences defendants under counterterrorism legislation enacted in 2003 and expanded in 2015 in response to UNSCR 2178.

In 2023, Moroccan law enforcement, under the coordination of the Ministry of Interior, arrested at least 56 individuals, of whom 40 were lone actors, while the 16 others were associated with six different terrorist cells.  Moroccan law enforcement leveraged intelligence collection, police work, and collaboration with international partners to conduct CT operations.  The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) remains the primary law enforcement agency responsible for counterterrorism prosecutions.  The BCIJ reports to the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST) and operates under the supervision of the public prosecutor of the Court of Appeals.

The following offers a snapshot of arrests in 2023:

• In March, Moroccan security services arrested 13 individuals in Casablanca and the Sidi Harazem region for their role in the murder of a traffic police officer.  The Directorate General of National Security (DGSN) reported that three suspects attacked the police officer with knives, stole his car and weapon, and set his body on fire.  Per DGSN, the accused suspects had recently declared allegiance to ISIS and the head of BCIJ described the assailants’ mode of operation as lone-actor terrorist tactics.  The individuals were tried and charged in a specialized court for terrorism-related cases.  The trial culminated in one death sentence, two lifetime sentences, and one four-year sentence, and the remaining individuals were sentenced to five years and a fine of 200,000 USD.
• In May the BCIJ confirmed the dismantling of a three-person terrorist cell in Tangier.  The cell was preparing attacks targeting Moroccan security.  The suspects, who had links to ISIS, attempted to establish connections with terrorist elements in the Sahel and Sahara regions. The three individuals also sought to join ISIS affiliates in the Sahel following the execution of their planned attacks.
• From January through November, security operations were conducted separately and simultaneously in the cities of Chtouka Ait Baha, Inzegane-Ait Melloul, Larache, Nador, Souk El Arbaa du Gharb, Tangier, and Tetouan.  The arrestees included individuals allegedly involved in planning sabotage attacks targeting vital, sensitive national facilities, as well as security elements and institutions.  The suspects allegedly monitored and identified targets and conducted research on manufacturing explosives.  Numerous arrested subjects indicated an interest in traveling to join ISIS affiliates in Sub-Saharan Africa upon execution of their planned attacks, which is of particular concern – as ISIS propaganda since June 2022 has urged its supporters to travel to ISIS affiliates in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
• In July, local media reported that the BCIJ and the special antiterrorist forces of the DGST arrested 50 people in counterterrorism raids across the country as part of operations aimed at thwarting terrorist attacks.  Twenty-one individuals were arrested on suspicion of having pledged allegiance to ISIS or al-Qa’ida.  Officers also seized knives, terrorist publications and propaganda, and instructions for making explosives.
• In October, the BCIJ arrested four individuals for their alleged involvement in terrorist planning designed to undermine Morocco’s security and stability.  DGST credited its intelligence collection in obtaining information that facilitated the arrests.  DGST initiated the intervention operations in three separate locations, targeting suspects in Tangier, Tetouan, and Inezgane-Ait Melloul.  DGST recovered electronics, weapons, radical literature, a manual detailing how to join ISIS camps in the Sahel region, and photos documenting ISIS terrorist attacks.  

Moroccan law enforcement agencies participated in a wide range of U.S.-sponsored programs to improve the country’s technical and investigative capabilities, including financial investigation, intelligence analysis, forensics, aviation security, and cybersecurity.  The FBI also continued to send Moroccan law enforcement partners to the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Border security remained a top priority for Moroccan authorities.  The DGSN has primary responsibility for conducting border inspections at ports of entry such as Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport.  Law enforcement officials and private airline carriers worked regularly with the United States to detect and deter individuals attempting to transit illegally and to address terrorist travel.  Moroccan airport authorities have excellent capabilities in detecting fraudulent documents.  In addition, police, customs officers, and the Royal Gendarmerie operated mobile and fixed checkpoints along the roads in border areas and at the entrances to major municipalities.  Moroccan naval and coast guard units monitored and patrolled Morocco’s extensive coastal waters, including the Strait of Gibraltar, to intercept illicit traffickers.  

Morocco did not repatriate any FTFs or their associated family members from northeast Syria in 2023.  The number of Moroccan citizen terrorist fighters and associated family members outside the country numbers in the hundreds.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism:  Morocco is a member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (or MENAFATF), and its Financial Intelligence Unit, the National Financial Intelligence Authority, is a member of the Egmont Group.  

In February, Morocco was removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list.  FATF that reported Morocco made the key reforms, including 1) improving risk-based supervision and taking remedial actions and applying effective, proportionate, and dissuasive sanctions for noncompliance, 2) strengthening its targeted financial sanctions (TFS) framework and monitoring financial institutions and designated nonfinancial businesses and professions compliance with TFS obligations, 3) undertaking and sharing the results of the risk assessment on the misuse of all types of legal persons with the private sector and the competent authorities, 4) increasing the diversity of suspicious transactions reporting, and 5) establishing asset seizing and confiscation procedures.

Countering Violent Extremism:  Morocco has a comprehensive strategy for countering violent extremism that prioritizes economic and human development in addition to countering radicalization and oversight of the religious sphere.  To counter what it views as “religious extremism,” Morocco promotes an interpretation of the Maliki-Ashari School of Sunni Islam.  The Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs has developed an educational curriculum for Morocco’s nearly 50,000 imams as well as for female Islamic guides (mourchidates).  Morocco’s imam training center in Rabat trains imams mostly from West Africa.  The Royal Mohammedan League of Ulema (Rabita Mohammedia) counters radicalization to violence by producing scholarly research, reviewing educational curricula, and conducting youth outreach on religious and social topics.  Since 2017, an estimated 300 detainees have completed Morocco’s deradicalization program (Moussalaha, or Reconciliation), administered by the General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration, in cooperation with other ministries.

International and Regional Cooperation:  Morocco is a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and co-chairs the Africa Focus Group.  The country is also a member of the Global Counterterrorism Forum.  In 2023, Morocco and the EU launched an initiative in the GCTF on education for the prevention and countering of violent extremism.