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Casablanca – Morocco is one of the safest countries worldwide, the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) said in its latest “Global Terrorism Index” (GTI).
With an overall score of 1.156 and a global rank of 76th among countries impacted by the terrorist threat, the report found, Morocco’s counter-terrorism efforts in the past years have put it on a restricted list of countries that have devised an effective mechanism to deal with the threat of terrorism in its diverse, emerging forms.
“Morocco’s active role in fighting terrorism suggests the country’s understanding of the threat; the interconnectedness of its counterterrorism methods,” the report said. “The application of combined soft and hard measures; the facilitation of information sharing practices; and the promotion of international cooperation as the sine qua non of counterterrorism.”
Released earlier this month, on March 1, this year’s GTI explores the impact of terrorism on nations and its many trends in the past twelve months, while also assessing the direct and indirect consequences of terrorism, such as the number of lives lost, injuries, property damage, and psychological aftereffects.
The report is a composite score that rates countries based on the impact of terrorism, ranging from 0 (no impact) to 10 (great impact/highest impact).
Morocco’s ranking in context
Morocco’s overall score, 1.156, means that while terrorist groups surely continue to have the North African country on their radar as a target, the impact of terrorism is “very low” in Morocco. The suggestion is that, with regular news of Moroccan counter-terrorism units dismantling terrorist cells, the country remains a bulwark in the ongoing global and regional fight against emerging terrorism threats.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s ranking in this year’s GTI indicates that the country has moved up only two places compared to its 2021 performance (when it ranked 74th worldwide) and twenty-six places compared to its 2020 performance. Two years ago, the North African country ranked 102nd on the list of nations affected by terrorism.
But Morocco is still in the second position in the Maghreb, trailing only Mauritania, which is ranked 84th worldwide with a score of 0.509. Algeria comes in third position (39th in the world) with a score of 4.432, followed by Tunisia (38th, 4.447) and Libya (26th, 5.100).
Meanwhile, Morocco is the sixth least afflicted by terrorism in North Africa and the Middle East region, behind the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Sudan.
Casablanca attacks changed the game for Morocco
Morocco’s significant efforts in combating terrorism constitute the main factor in the country’s largely positive GTI performances over the past years. Following the Casablanca bombings in 2003, Morocco embarked on a radical shift in its counter-terrorism approach.
On May 16, 2003, 12 members of al-Salafiya al-Jihadiya, a Salafi-jihadi terrorist organization connected with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), blew themselves up in Casablanca.
The Farah Hotel, the Jewish Community Centre, a Jewish restaurant, a Jewish cemetery, and a Spanish social club were all targeted in the terrorist attacks.
The Casablanca terror assaults triggered a new phase of globally inspired domestic terrorism, with similar but significantly less lethal incidents being witnessed again in Casablanca in 2007 and 2015, in Marrakech in 2011, and in 2018 in Imlil.
The 2003 Casablanca attacks and following terrorist incidents spurred Morocco’s government to strengthen its counter-terrorism measures in response to new, emerging terrorist tactics — quickened operational tempo and increasing lethality.
Aside from legislative reforms that strengthened Morocco’s legal counter-terrorism framework, the Moroccan government acknowledged that the 2003 attacks necessitated a comprehensive response.
In fact, Moroccan law enforcement’s accomplishments in preventing attacks while adhering to the rule of law and human rights set a positive example for the rest of the continent.
In order to prevent terrorists’ passage in and out of the nation, Morocco attempted to improve border management and better educate and equip law enforcement and security forces. Morocco began executing a tri-dimensional counter-terrorism strategy, which aims to handle several aspects of the terrorist threat through security, socioeconomic development strategies, and religious assistance.
Since 2004, Moroccan security services have dismantled almost 200 terrorist networks, made over 3,500 terrorism-related arrests, and prevented over 300 planned terrorist attacks.
As a result, Morocco became significantly more involved in global counter-terrorism initiatives, including joining the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and co-chairing the Global Counterterrorism Forum’s Foreign Terrorist Fighter Working Group (GCTF).
Morocco has also collaborated extensively with US and European counter-terrorism initiatives. In 2011, Morocco became a founding member of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, joining the United States and 28 other nations.
Morocco, an example of effective counter-terrorism
Morocco has also stepped up its already strong counter-terrorism measures, both domestically and internationally. As a result, the North African country has become a worldwide leader in the fight against terrorism and an inspiration for many African countries seeking to invest in their counter-terrorism capabilities amid the deepening security crisis in the Sahel.
Morocco is currently a key international counter-terrorism partner, playing a critical role in safeguarding and strengthening regional and continental peace, security, and stability. Its counter-terrorism architecture and the operational capabilities of its specially trained security officers have all made the country an important actor in the African and global security landscape.
In 2020, Morocco signed a host nation agreement with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) to create a Programme Office for Counter-Terrorism and Training in Africa.
With its newly established office in Rabat, the first of its kind on the African continent, the UNOCT serves as a training hub for counter-terrorism, law enforcement, border security management, combating radicalization, and safeguarding human rights in the battle against terrorism.
More recently, Morocco has also shared intelligence that has resulted in the arrest of terrorists or the averting of attacks in France, Belgium, India, Italy, Spain, Germany, Burkina Faso, and Sri Lanka.
As the 2022 GTI suggests, however, being ranked among the safest countries in the world was not an easy endeavor for Morocco; it took strategy, hard effort, and strategic intelligence cooperation with the country’s reliable allies and security partners.
