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Rabat – Abdellatif Hammouchi, the General Director of Morocco’s National Security and Territorial Surveillance (DGSN-DGST) made a two-day visit to the US this week as part of the Moroccan-American commitment to boost cooperation in the field of security.
A statement from the DGSN said that Hammouchi led a security delegation including directors and executives from the DGST services on June 13-14.
“This visit reflects the strong cooperation ties between the Kingdom of Morocco and the United States of America in the various security areas, particularly in the area of the fight against terrorism and transnational organized crime,” the DGSN said in its press release.
Hammouchi held several working meetings with different US intelligence services, including Avril Hainse, Director of American National Intelligence, William Burns, Director of the CIA, and Christopher Wray, Director of the FBI.
During the meetings, the officials spoke about the different security threats at the regional and international levels, outlining a common vision in terms of mechanisms to tackle emerging risks in the global security context.
Hammouchi renewed Morocco’s concerns regarding the security challenges posed by terror groups and organized crime networks, particularly in the Sahel, the Sahara, the Middle East, and Europe.
Morocco has long emphasized the importance of shared cooperation to tackle terror threats regionally and internationally — especially in the Sahel.
“The Sahel is home to the world’s fastest-growing and most-deadly terrorist groups,” Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita said on May 11 during a ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
Read also: Morocco, Germany Security Officials Discuss Anti-Terrorism Cooperation
The Moroccan FM shared alarming statistics about the growing presence of ISIS-affiliated groups in the region, noting that the terrorist group has been the world’s deadliest terrorist network since 2012.
Regarding ISIS’s presence in Africa, the sub-Saharan region accounted for 48% of global terrorism deaths and 3,461 casualities while the Sahel region alone was home to 35% of global terrorism deaths in 2021, Bourita noted.
Hammouchi’s visit also served as an opportunity for officials from both countries to agree on the essential cooperation and joint efforts to ensure a firm response to all risks and growing threats on an international scale.
“This visit demonstrates the importance of bilateral cooperation” between the two countries, DGSN said, concluding that the US and Morocco are key partners ensuring global security and stability.
Morocco and the US exchange expertise and intelligence, cooperating together to identify wanted and terror suspects.
In May, Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) and the US FBI teamed up to arrest an ISIS-affiliated suspect who was involved in preparing violent extremist attacks to undermine Morocco’s stability and security.
