Morocco Participates in Rome’s Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh

Rabat – Morocco will participate in the Plenary Ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS, along with Italy and the US. The event will take place in Rome on June 28.

The coalition was formed in 2014 with the goal of defeating ISIS, also known by its Arabic name Daesh. It currently consists of 83 members that contribute to the coalition’s military campaign in Iraq and Syria, and aims at dislodging the terror group’s financial infrastructure, as well as supporting the stabilization and rebuilding of affected areas.

According to a press release from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “the Rome Ministerial meeting will be an opportunity to reaffirm the Coalition’s cohesion in ensuring a lasting defeat of Daesh,” as well as to ensure the stabilization of the liberated areas.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”fr” dir=”ltr”>Le ministre des Affaires Etrangères, de la Coopération Africaine et des Marocains Résidant à l’Étranger, M. Nasser Bourita, prend part aujourd'hui à la réunion des ministres des Affaires Etrangères de la Coalition internationale anti-Daesh, à Rome. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneMissionManyNations?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#OneMissionManyNations</a> <a href=”https://t.co/VgQYzjctLo”>pic.twitter.com/VgQYzjctLo</a></p>— Maroc Diplomatie ?? (@MarocDiplomatie) <a href=”https://twitter.com/MarocDiplomatie/status/1409447452915159042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, will represent Rabat at the meeting in Rome, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi di Maio, and US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, will be hosting the meeting.

“We must maintain maximum pressure on the terrorist entity,” Bourita said in an official statement. The Foreign Minister welcomed the coalition’s efforts in collecting battlefield evidence and ensuring comprehensive border security.

Morocco’s Foreign Minister noted that terrorist attacks in Africa have increased from 281 in 2015, to 7,108 in 2020. Bourita also highlighted that the casualties have seen a nine-fold increase, rising from 1,394 to 12,519 simultaneously.

Bourita also brought attention to the fact that terrorist groups across Africa have begun to cooperate with organized crime networks and separatist groups, urging the coalition to carefully monitor the trend.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Pleased to meet with my fellow Foreign Ministers of the Global <a href=”https://twitter.com/coalition?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Coalition</a> to Defeat ISIS in Rome today. Our collective effort remains necessary to achieve a comprehensive and lasting defeat of ISIS worldwide. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneMissionManyNations?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#OneMissionManyNations</a> <a href=”https://t.co/0M12Rgxzvo”>pic.twitter.com/0M12Rgxzvo</a></p>— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) <a href=”https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1409520589002452992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Morocco is committed to supporting the coalition’s efforts and sharing its experience, “particularly on border security and management,” Bourita added.

The Foreign Minister’s closing statement reiterated the importance of Africa’s involvement in the anti-terrorism efforts.

“African partners are indeed in the best position to know the threat in their respective regions and the capabilities that need to be reinforced, in order to ensure a lasting defeat against Daesh,” he said.