Moroccan King Reaffirms Readiness
Moroccan King Mohammed VI sent his condolences to the President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria for an attack that killed eight Algerian soldiers. Terrorist group, al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for last Wednesday’s bombing. In his letter, King Mohammed VI reaffirmed his readiness position and support for bi-lateral ties to fight terrorism in the region. The King suggested that Algeria and Morocco work together to extricate terrorism because it has become a threat to the stability in the Maghreb region. Morocco has raised its security level to the maximum rating, which translates to an attack is probable. Moroccan Interior Minister said that his office had obtained information suggesting that a threat had been made but would not give out many details.
The Algerian based Al Qaeda Organization has said it will step up its attacks against rulers that it considers corrupt and their allies. This threat has caused the Maghreb region to be on alert against attacks. Last March and April, Casablanca was the site for seven suicide bombing attacks. Al Qadeda has claimed responsibility for those attacks and three more in Algeria. All together more than forty people have died.
Moroccan newspaper, Al Ahdath al Maghribia, said that its security sources have informed them that Al Qaeda has changed its tactics from using inexperienced operatives to well seasoned ones. Al Qaeda members trained in Afghanistan and Iraq are being sent into the region. Anti-terrorism police in Morocco are seeking two Al Qaeda operatives who helped plan the recent attacks. According to intelligence received in Morocco, the two have experience in guerilla warfare, making and using booby-trapped cars and the manufacturing of explosives. While the Moroccan government would not comment, Al Ahdath al Maghribia is usually well informed on such matters
According to the Justice Minister of Morocco, fifteen people were detained suspected to be radical Islamists plotting terrorist attacks in the area. Three of the detainees were extricated to Libya.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.