Friday, March 17, 2023 at 09:36 PM
Salé – The operations of indoctrination to commit terrorist attacks have gone from conventional means to rapid extremism by manipulation via the Internet, underlined, Friday in Salé, the spokesperson for the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), Boubker Sabik.
Speaking at a press briefing, devoted to shedding light on developments in the case of intentional homicide with mutilation of the body once morest a police officer in the line of duty, Mr. Sabik indicated that terrorism “ moved from classic means that relied on indoctrination, screening, education, preparation, and then enlistment to carry out terrorist operations, to rapid extremism through manipulation via the Internet and the dark web”.
The biggest threat now is the rapid extremism and supposed return of members of terrorist organizations operating in the Sahel region and other “Daesh” strongholds, added Mr. Sabik, emphasizing the arrest, these years, of regarding 100 people who were active in the so-called “information terrorism” through the dissemination of propaganda to glorify terrorist operations, indoctrination and enlistment.
Thus, he continued in response to questions from journalists, the security services are working successfully at the cybernetic level to fight once morest this “environment conducive to the production of this kind of rapid indoctrination”.
The three alleged perpetrators of the intentional homicide with mutilation of the body of a police officer in Casablanca announced their allegiance to the terrorist organization “Daesh” regarding a month and a half ago before committing to the terrorist act, detailed Mr Sabik.
Concerning the mutilation of the corpse of the policeman, he indicated that the terrorist groups try to commit crimes that arouse great resonance and media momentum to achieve their primary objective of intimidation aimed at undermining the pillars of public order, denying the personal nature of the crime and emphasizing that the policeman, contrary to what has been relayed, was the victim of this terrorist act at his place of work.
In this sense, Mr. Sabik noted that these extremists did not document their heinous acts because they were waiting to do so during their imminent major operations of targeting banks to obtain criminal revenues in order to carry out specific qualitative terrorist operations. .
The dangers of the terrorist threat still remain, given that Morocco’s regional environment is characterized by a set of disturbances, particularly in the Sahelo-Saharan region, he said, adding that the security services are attack these threats in a logic of “zero tolerance”.
Mr. Sabik pointed out that thanks to the efforts of the various security services, terrorist threats have been neutralized in recent years.
In this regard, the DGSN spokesperson indicated that the withdrawal of “Daesh” and Al-Qaeda into their traditional strongholds has resulted in the so-called “regional poles”, which have moved to certain areas marked by a low level of security, such as the Sahel and the Sahara, where terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara region and the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) are active , in addition to typical organizations affiliated with “Daesh” and “Al-Qaeda” and other organizations active in the region.
Furthermore, Mr. Sabik expressed his regret that a foreign media broadcast a statement by Abu Obeida Youssef al-Annabi, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Sahel and Sahara region, in which he directly threatened the African countries, stressing that this fact “has prompted us to treat this threat with great caution”.
He added that Morocco’s commitment to international efforts aimed at combating and neutralizing the risks associated with terrorist threats exposes the Kingdom to a double threat, namely; the international external threat, since terrorist organizations have issued a number of fatwas inciting them to attack Morocco, and the internal threat represented by cells operating locally.
The Kingdom, represented by various security services, headed by the Directorate General for National Territorial Surveillance (DGST), has provided assistance to many countries in the Sahelo-Saharan region, Mr. Sabik said, noting that the Abou Walid Al-Sahraoui’s threat was neutralized on the basis of information provided by the Moroccan security services, which also provided a set of data, at the level of the African continent, which made it possible to thwart many terrorist projects.
With regard to the possible return of terrorists and fighters from hotbeds of tension, Mr. Sabik underlined that this is an arduous task, especially since some of them have taken part in combat operations or held leadership positions in terrorist organizations, or were emirs of a division, members of decision-making bodies, Sharia judges or members of brigades, including Moroccans.
In this regard, he indicated that one of the security operations called “Operation Tamaris” revealed the presence of fighters who were preparing to carry out underwater terrorist operations to strike targets related to maritime navigation.
The possible return of these fighters, in addition to foreign-born children, poses a major security challenge, he said, noting that some of them are trying to infiltrate under false identities, where the need for security vigilance to neutralize these risks linked to the return of combatants.
Mr. Sabik also affirmed that the DGSN will spare no effort to protect its employees, indicating that the security services have adopted alternative weapons to ensure the safety of the employee, and even of the suspect, because the goal is to neutralize the danger within the framework of the law.
On the educational level, the spokesperson noted that the DGSN, in coordination with the Ministry of National Education, has launched in recent years awareness campaigns on the dangers of terrorism in the school environment, stressing that the ” Revue de la police” also devotes awareness spots aimed at students and young people to strengthen their auto-immunity once morest the misuse of the Internet.
