Re: Yihadismo en Marruecos
Publicado: 04 Ene 2013 09:56
Célula terrorista Ansar al Sharia en Marruecos:
Más información en: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xh ... feature-05Maghreb authorities are at red alert for the end-of-year festivities.
Morocco deployed extra security officers to protect New Year revellers, with National Security chief Bouchaib Rmail urging all judicial police officers to be especially vigilant on Tuesday (January 1st).
"Security chiefs will focus primarily on the protection of strategic buildings and sites, Christian and Jewish places of worship, restaurants and monuments, and tourists and foreign nationals in general," he said in Casablanca on December 22nd.
Rmail advocated a four-pronged security strategy: "anticipation, prevention, interaction and suppression of crime".
Ever since an al-Qaeda cell in Morocco was dismantled last month, Interior Minister Mohand Laenser has repeatedly underlined that security services needed to be hyper-vigilant.
The group allegedly recruited young Moroccans to join al-Qaeda and the Movement for Tawhid and Jihad (MUJAO) in northern Mali.
In another incident, members of a new Ansar al-Sharia offshoot group were arrested last month for allegedly plotting large-scale terrorist strikes across Morocco.
"This cell, which was seeking to obtain financial and military support from AQIM, was planning attacks on sensitive buildings, security headquarters and tourist sites," he said.
This operation came just a few days after Morocco thwarted an attempt by another terrorist group to set up a training camp in the Rif mountains.
Given the recent uptick in terrorist activity, checkpoints have been set up at town entrances and along main roads across all regions of Morocco.
In Casablanca, deployment is in full swing. In addition to police roadblocks, administrative police officers on foot or on motorbikes are seen around the city centre, the tourist sites of Ain Diab, Morocco Mall, around the Hassan II Mosque, the tram network, the Al-Maghrib bank and other financial and administrative buildings.
The main purpose of the roadblocks is to check the identities of all drivers of vehicles which arouse suspicion.
The disappearance of several known salafists is another major concern for security services. They include a man known as "Rachid", who was previously apprehended at Casablanca Airport while preparing to board a flight to Mali. He had been jailed in 2010.
The authorities fear that these men may have joined sleeper cells either within or outside the country in order to carry out terrorist acts.