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Rabat – Morocco has emerged as one of the world’s safest nations, according to the 2025 Global Terrorism Index report from the Institute for Economics and Peace.
The report notably lists Morocco among the four countries in the Middle East and North Africa region that registered scores of zero in terrorist incidents, including Kuwait, Qatar, and Sudan.
These countries “had been free of terrorist activity for at least the past five years,” the report noted.
Despite regional threats Morocco built on years of strategic security developments and now outranks several European countries in safety metrics.
The country strengthened its anti-terrorism approach by toughening penalties for terrorist activities and revising laws to crack down on individuals seeking terrorist training.
It enhanced the monitoring of suspicious financial transfers and built stronger partnerships with international organizations like Interpol and the European Union.
In 2023, Morocco launched an anti-extremism program with the EU to combat violent extremism and terrorism through prevention and education.
The terrorism landscape continues to evolve in dangerous ways. The Sahel region accounted for over 30% of terrorism-related deaths in 2024, with attacks multiplying in Niger following the withdrawal of French and American forces, according to the report.
It further noted that 90% of terrorism victims are in armed conflict zones, demonstrating the direct link between instability and extremism.
According to the report, Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups like Nosrat al-Islam pose increasing threats across the Sahel desert, endangering stability throughout North Africa, including Morocco.
Stretching from Mauritania to Sudan, the Sahel has become a global terrorism hotspot. In 2020, the region recorded over 13,800 victims, with Burkina Faso experiencing a staggering 575% increase in attacks.
The report also described how recent geopolitical shifts in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso — particularly their growing alignment with Russia and China — created security gaps that terrorist groups quickly took advantage of.
Meanwhile, and with the growing terrorist threats in the Sahel region, Morocco responded by enhancing border controls and deploying advanced technologies to prevent terrorist infiltration.
The country has recently foiled a terrorist plot that was planned by a terrorist cell “Khalifa Lions in Maghrib Al-Aksa,” which had direct links with an ISIS leader operating in the African Sahel Region.
Read also: Morocco’s BCIJ Latest Counter-Terrorism Operation, Details, Regional Context
Today’s terrorist groups embrace digital strategies beyond physical violence. The report notes that 60% of terrorist attacks go unclaimed by organized groups, pointing to the rise of lone-wolf terrorism fueled by technology and digital platforms spreading extremist ideologies. Secure messaging apps like Telegram enable radical propaganda to spread widely.
However, Morocco has created a digital platform “Yakada,” through which citizens can report terrorist or extremist content they come across on social media.
Through these comprehensive security measures and international cooperation, Morocco continues to defend itself against evolving terrorism threats while establishing itself as a regional security leader.
Morocco’s efforts in counterterrorism have been gaining acclaim recently with several international reports commending the country’s strategy in defying terrorist threats.
