Auxiliary Forces
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Auxiliary Forces | |
---|---|
القوات المساعدة ⵉⴷⵡⴰⵙⴻⵏ ⵉⵎⴰⵡⵡⴰⵙⴻⵏ | |
Motto | God, Homeland, King |
Founded | 1 July 1946 |
Service branches | Provincial Guard General Intervention Support Units |
Website | https://recrutement.fa.gov.ma |
Leadership | |
Supreme Commander | Mohammed VI |
Minister of Interior | Abdelouafi Laftit |
Inspector General | -Mustapha Hdioud (Southern Division) -Khalid Jabran (Northern Division) |
Personnel | |
Military age | 18-24 years |
Active personnel | 45,000 |
The General Inspectorate of Auxiliary Forces (
Additionally, they contribute to maintaining internal order, acting as a border watch, and are the main backup force for firefighters during forest fires. During the Years of Lead, custody facilities such as Tazmamart and Agdz were mainly operated by elements of the auxiliary forces.
The Auxiliary forces are a continuation of a low-rank military unit composed of
They are known colloquially as the mroud (a Berber word for a type of grasshopper),[2] mkhaznia (from Makhzen) or as imkhazniyn in Berber.
Mission and organisation
Mission
Auxiliary forces have an important role in establishing security throughout the Kingdom, so they :
- Contribute to maintaining public order and security
- intervention during particular events or natural disasters, providing aid and assistance to the population.
- Secure state administrations, in particular administrative annexes and prefectures...etc
- Stationing within the brigades of the Royal Armed Forces for border guarding.
Organisation
Auxiliary Forces are organized as follows:
- Provincial Guard
- Administrative Makhzen (Prefectures, administrative annexes... )
- Intervention Section (Maintenance of public order and public safety)
- Cavalry Teams (Tourist, mountainous, forest areas)
- Public Intervention Groups
- Makhzen Mobile Groups :
- Sections of Maintaining Order and Public Security.
- Section of Rapid Intervention.
- Cavalry Division.
- Mechanized Makhzen.
- Mounted Makhzen Mobile.
- Makhzen Frontier Groups :
- Frontier Mobile Makhzen.
- MeharistsMakhzen.
- Protection Group of Private Establishments.
- Makhzen Mobile Groups :
- Support and command units (logistics, engineering, vehicle maintenance, etc.)
History
Following the Second World War, the post-war
In 1971 and 1972, King Hassan II survived two coup attempts initiated by rebel military factions, which formed a climate of distrust evident between the monarchy and the army. This climate encouraged the growing strength of the police and the revival of the Auxiliary, put on hold since independence. The king personally nominated two senior members of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces to head the Auxiliary Forces in 1974. The Auxiliary Forces were designated to lead in the maintenance of order and quick restoration of order in affected areas. The Auxiliary Forces were given a special status and a budget of nine billion centimes (a fortune at the time). Two-thirds of the force were virtually incapable of military service due to age and or health reasons, the King had to recruit again and rebuild the whole force, "recalls one officer who served at that time. There was no shortage of candidates but they needed to be disciplined and healthy. Initial recruitment was conducted primarily in the regions of Ouarzazate and Errachidia. The king then created two areas of operation, North and South. In 1975, the Auxiliary Forces were at the front of the Green March.
Western Sahara War
When war broke out in the Sahara in 1976, the Auxiliary Forces were once again at the forefront. They were armed only with a locally manufactured version of the
In fact, the Moroccan army supreme command (
Years of Lead
In the northern part of the kingdom, during the
By the early 80s, the Auxiliary Forces were hated by the population. They represented the authority in its most abusive, more brutal form. In addition to the repression of demonstrations, the Auxiliary Forces remained close and had daily contact with the street. They were everywhere: in the
Administration
In the prefectures, much of the administrative Makhzen is available to the mayors and governors. They are found today at the entrance of buildings and doors of important people. They do everything, for example, they serve tea, introduce guests, collect the mail, track vendors and chase children playing soccer near the recently renovated public parks by the municipality.
When not used at events or in the prefectures and wilayas, the Auxiliary Forces are assigned to border surveillance. Along the
Recruitment
A candidate for the Auxiliary Forces must meet the following conditions:[4]
- Have Moroccan nationality;
- Be single and at least 18 and at most 24 years old;
- Have a clean criminal record;
- Height greater than 1.70m for men and 1.65m for women;
- Have the qualifying secondary school level or holder of a professional qualification diploma for Mokhazni students, and holder of a baccalaureate certificate for Moussaidin students;
- Have a total visual power of at least 16.
Multi-capability
General Laanigri, former head of the DGSN, was appointed the head of the Auxiliary Forces. He was charged with modernizing the Auxiliary Forces and preparing them to assume new missions. Following his installation as the Inspectorate General located in Rabat, he created a third operational area that would extend to the borders of Agadir Mauritania. "The geographical distribution that exists today was adopted in 1974. At that time, the Sahara was not yet safe in the geography. Today the region accounts for nearly one-third of the national territory. Creating a third area is therefore obvious, "said a commander of the Auxiliary Forces. Since the end of the 1990s, nearly 6,000 Auxiliary Forces men are stationed along the berm or in the barracks in the south. The Sahara is still a sensitive area where law enforcement is a major challenge.
Another challenge to General Laânigri, like all security officials of the country: the fight against terrorism. Last year, Cherki Drais, the newly appointed head of the DGSN, requested reinforcements for Laânigri. Thus, joint patrols of police and auxiliary forces of elements have emerged in major cities. Between officers of FA, there is even talk of preparing a new status for their bodies, with new missions and new ways (including weapons and dogs). According to cross the Mobile Intervention Unit (the famous CMI) should be dissolved in the DGSN, to be replaced by units of the Auxiliary Forces. "The units to be trained at the highest level insists this specialist in military matters. Since Morocco is recycle the body of FA as much to do in depth. An element of the FA should be perfectly versatile to intervene with gendarmes, police, military, customs or brigades of Water and Forests. " According to some of his collaborators, Laânigri floor on the thorny issue of image mroud. Further held, communication campaign, training abroad ..."None of these tracks is excluded", they say within the Inspectorate General.
Armaments
Auxiliary Forces are equipped with
The Moroccan Auxiliary Forces took delivery of 88 Lenco BearCat armored vehicles in riot control, troop transport, communications, convoy protection, and SWAT variants. [5]
Grades
- Mokhazni
- Brigadier
- Chief Brigadier
- Moussaid (Assistant)
- Excellent Moussaid (Excellent Assistant)
- Inspector
- Excellent inspector
- Exceptionally excellent inspector
- General Inspector (named by the King)
References
- ^ ""Article 2 of the tasks and formations of the Auxiliary Forces by Dahir N 1.17.71"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ^ Telquel (in French). No. 273. Archived from the originalon 22 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-2-213-63015-1.
- ^ "Forces Auxiliaires || ACCUEIL" (in French). Archived from the original on 4 October 2020.
- ^ "Morocco has taken delivery of 88 BearCat 4x4 armoured vehicles for the Moroccan Auxiliary Forces". www.armyrecognition.com. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
Sources
External links
- (in French, Spanish, and English) Portail national du Maroc