Rabat – The attorney general at the Rabat Court of Appeal has assigned the murder case of a Frenchwoman in Tiznit, a town in the Souss-Massa region, to the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ).
Spanish news agency EFE quoted an official source as saying that the case is now being investigated by the BCIJ.
The Tiznit murder stirred uproar among Moroccans, with many condemning the heinous killing of the French tourist.
Police identified the victim as a 79-year old French national. The perpetrator, a 31-year-old man, was caught by a surveillance camera as he stabbed his victim to death last week.
Security services arrested the man in Agadir, where he was attempting to commit intentional homicide crimes against two more tourists.
One of the two tourists the man attacked in Agadir, a Belgian woman, sustained serious injuries and was transferred to the hospital for the necessary medical care.
Following the murder of the French tourist in Tiznit, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) announced on Saturday the arrest of the perpetrator.
The DGSN statement said investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances and motives behind the attacks. Ruling out terrorism, the statement suggested the attacker’s main motive might have been robbery.
The DGSN also indicated that the suspect spent time in a mental health facility for medical care last year as he suffered mental disorders.
Morocco, a safer destination than neighboring countries
A source close to the investigation source confirmed to Moroccan newspaper Le360 last week that police are rulling out terror motives in the case.
But local law enforcement has not yet shared any updates as to whether the case is being investigated by BCJI, Morocco’s counterterrorism unit.
Morocco has faced fewer terror attacks than its neighboring countries, such as Spain and f.
The oldest terror attacks Morocco faced in the past decade include the 2003 heinous act in Casablanca.
In 2003, five bombing attacks took place in Casablanca at the same time, killing 45 people including the 12 bombers who led the suicide attacks.
In 2011, a bomb attack struck the main square of Marrakech, killing 15 people including at least 10 foreigners and injuring 20 others.
Morocco’s most recent case of terrorism was the 2018 headlines-grabbing Imlil murder.
When news emerged of the brutal killing of two Scandinavian tourists by four ISIS-linked terrorists, Moroccans took both to the streets and social media to condemn the heinous double murder and express solidairy with the families of the two slain tourists.
With mounting tsecurity threast in its region, Morocco has been intensifying efforts to tackle “the scourge of terror acts.”
Since the establishment of the BCIJ in 2015, Morocco has dismantled more than 83 terrorist cells, 77 of which are linked to ISIS.
BCIJ has also arrested over 1,374 people for terror links, about 54 of whom had criminal record in terror cases.
Morocco’s counter-terrorism efforts have been acknowledged across the world, including by the US that frequently touts its security cooperation with the North African country.
In a 2020 report, the US State Department emphasized Morocco’s comprehnsive and laudable approach to counter terrorism.
