The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) was a Sunni Islamist militant group that sought to install a fundamentalist Islamist government in Morocco. The GICM acronym stems from the French translation of the group's name, Groupe Islamique Combattante Marocain. The organization had its origins in the Moroccan fighters who traveled to Afghanistan to fight as part of the mujahideen against the Soviets. While the militants initially joined forces with members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), rifts between the LIFG and Moroccan fighters led the Moroccans to establish their own organization; returning to Morocco in 1993, these veterans militants later formed GICM. The early members of GICM sought change and mobilization similar to what was accomplished by the Taliban.[3] Specifically, they sought to displace the governing Moroccan monarchy with an Islamic caliphate.[4]
GICM initially absorbed several militant cells already operating in Morocco. The group remained relatively invisible on the world stage until May 2003, when GICM was involved in a suicide bombing around Casablanca. The bombing resulted in the deaths of 33 Moroccan and western civilians and wounded over 100 people.[5] Following this high- profile attack, the Moroccan government began to crackdown on militants operating in the country, arresting and trying up to 2000 suspected jihadists. The government labelled these fighters as members of “Salafia Jihadia”; today, this label is considered to have referred to militants generally following the Salafi-jihadist ideology, rather than a distinct militant organization.[6]
GICM operated various sleeper cells in Morocco, neighboring countries, and Western Europe, through which it sought to coordinate activities with other North African Salafi- jihadists, advance recruitment efforts, and establish bases for launching jihad attacks in the west.[7] These cells managed many of GICM’s criminal activities, primarily document falsification and trafficking of arms and drugs, especially in Western Europe. These activities served as the main source of funding for GICM. GICM’s numerous militant cells also allowed the group to maintain logistical and financial connections with other militant groups. GICM had strong ties to Al Qaeda (AQ) and received training and logistical support from AQ and AQ-affiliate Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).[8] GICM allegedly also assisted AQ with efforts to recruit and assimilate members into European countries as external operatives.[9] One of GICM’s European cells supported 3 AQ-affiliated militants who later participated in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, frequently cited as one of the most devasting Islamist attacks in European history.[10]
GICM’s activities in Morocco and Western Europe deteriorated significantly due to western counterterrorism efforts and the Moroccan government’s campaign to arrest GICM and affiliated groups in the 2000s. The group also suffered serious reductions in the amount of territory it controls in Morocco. In the late 2000s, numerous militant cells in Morocco with possible links to GICM were detected and forced to dismantle.[11] It is suspected that remaining GICM members and sleeper cells have been absorbed into different groups or continue to operate autonomously, independent of the GICM label. One possible indication of GICM’s dissolution is that other militant groups in Morocco, such as the LIFG and AQIM, have recently announced mergers or affiliation with AQ; however, AQ has not indicated any affiliation with GICM in nearly a decade.[12]
