Extremism in the African continent requires heavy security and military precautions from Morocco

In statements to the American Fox News network, General Michael Langley, head of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), confirmed that the number of extremist armed organizations and groups in the African continent has doubled significantly since 2008, noting at the same time that these organizations active in Africa at that time represented only a small percentage of the total extremist movements in the global arena; while today they reach about 40 percent.

The AFRICOM commander stressed that his country needs to strengthen cooperation and coordination with its African partners to confront these extremist organizations and achieve security and stability on the continent, at a time when concerned people confirm that this fact, represented by the increase in the intensity of extremism in the African sphere during the past few years, imposes on the Kingdom of Morocco. Continuously modernizing its security system and increasing its defense spending in order to confront this challenge, which is hampered by the lack of coordination and cooperation between countries at this level as a result of the exacerbation of diplomatic and political differences.

Update and spend

Hisham Moataded, a researcher in strategic affairs, said, “The increase in the activities of extremist terrorist organizations in Africa undoubtedly raises the challenges facing Morocco and will push Rabat to continuously and permanently modernize its defense mechanisms and increase the dynamism of its sensitive areas that keep pace with this type of threat,” adding that “The increase in these organizations will also require Morocco to increase its defense and security budget and double the professional staff in the various military and military sectors, in addition to modernizing its technological systems and expanding the circle of its proactive operations in order to keep pace with the danger of this strategic threat in its regional and continental space.”

The commissioner stressed to Hespress that “this type of geostrategic and security challenge requires coordination of efforts between countries concerned with these terrorist threats, and no country, regardless of its political weight, economic weight, or even defense and security strength, can confront this mobile and dynamic terrorism without creating alliances to confront it and building a bloc.” “Disciplined security forces to neutralize its risks.”

In this regard, Moataded recorded that “Morocco has been seeking, for a long time, to revitalize regional coordination between African countries concerned with this emerging terrorist phenomenon; However, the political instability in some countries and the weak political vision in others complicate the building of this common vision and put the geo-strategic space of Morocco and the African countries concerned with these issues to the test.”

The strategic affairs researcher pointed out that “political disagreement and unhealthy diplomatic ties certainly and directly affect strengthening joint security coordination or overlapping defense construction in such cases; Consequently, some countries are willing to sacrifice the security of their people and the security of their state at the expense of correcting their relations between countries in the region in order to build an impenetrable barrier to the movements and growth of terrorist movements,” stressing that “coordination requires realistic pragmatism in building common security and defense perceptions away from political ideology and the personal calculations of the leaders.” “.

The same researcher concluded that “Washington is betting on Rabat to confront this terrorist challenge. “In view of Morocco’s history in the region and the credibility of its security and defense institutions, in addition to the distinguished position of its specialized frameworks in combating all forms of terrorism, as well as the state’s political orientations and its strategic visions that emerge from Morocco’s historical principles in establishing security and peace in the region.”

Political relations

“As a neighboring country to the troubled Sahel region of Africa, Morocco is facing many security, political, economic and social challenges posed by the increasing activities of extremist terrorist organizations on the continent, especially in light of the growing capabilities of these armed groups, the ease with which they can obtain weapons, and the weakness of border control operations in some areas neighboring Morocco, which imposes a great and doubled effort to control and secure the Kingdom’s borders, in addition to the need to increase military spending to confront these various challenges,” said Jawad Al-Qasmi, an international affairs researcher.

Al-Qasmi explained that “confronting the terrorist phenomenon in general, and in Africa in particular, requires concerted efforts at various levels, nationally, regionally and internationally. In this regard, Morocco is a unique and pioneering model in combating terrorism, and it is harnessing all its capabilities to enhance cooperation with neighboring countries and other African countries to confront this dangerous phenomenon, by sharing intelligence information and exchanging expertise in the field of combating it, and training African military leaders in the royal military schools and providing them with the necessary expertise and knowledge in this regard.”

The international affairs researcher added, explaining: “There is no doubt that the operations to confront the terrorist phenomenon in the African continent in general, and especially in the Sahel and Sahara region, are greatly affected by the nature of political relations between neighboring countries and the disputes between these African countries. These disputes are likely to affect stability on the borders, which leads to the ease of the flow of weapons and fighters, and the increase in criminal activities associated with these organizations, such as human trafficking, smuggling, and the exploitation of illegal immigrants as a source of income or even as potential recruits; which imposes increasing pressure on the countries of the region.”

On another note, the spokesman pointed out to Hespress that “the American interest in Morocco is growing as a reliable partner to confront the challenge of terrorism,” considering that “this is not new, because the Kingdom has been a strategic ally of the United States of America for decades, and has strong partnerships with it in various fields, including the fight against terrorism and long-term military and security agreements.”

Al-Qasmi pointed out that “the importance of Morocco to Washington has increased in recent years, given the nature of the events taking place in the region and the world, for many reasons, the most important of which are: its location as a crossroads between Africa and Europe, and its sharing of borders with Algeria and Mauritania, two countries suffering from the spread of extremist groups, which makes it an important line of defense against these groups. In addition to that, the political and security stability of the Kingdom compared to the rest of the countries in the region, and its long military and intelligence experience that it has acquired over decades, all of which are factors that make it an indispensable partner for America and its allies in the world in the fight against terrorism.”