SUMMARY

Salafia Jihadia was a Sunni Islamist organisation that allegedly emerged in Morocco in the 1990s. Salafia Jihadia reportedly aimed at toppling “impious” Arab governments. Suspected members argued that they practiced Islam in the face of an infidel society that had to be violently confronted.

The name Salafia Jihadia was used by Moroccan authorities for the decentralised violent section of the Islamist movement in Morocco composed of smaller autonomous groups. As researchers argue, Salafia Jihadia lacked a coherent identity, but certainly had an organisational structure. However, it was reported that the leadership of the organisation denied the use of name Salafia Jihadia for their group and recruits were probably not aware of any designated name of the organisation that they were becoming a member of.

Salafia Jihadia was probably an offshoot of GICM (Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain, Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group) also remained allied to GICM. It was also reported that several of the subgroups comprised by Salafia Jihadia received aid from AQIM (Qaida al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Maghrib al-Islami; al-Qaida Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb) active in neighbouring Algeria. Al-Qaida allegedly provided strategic guidance.

While some leaders of the organisation have been identified, the hierarchy between them is not clear. The religious-ideological leadership included Abdelhaq Betanssir, Mohamed Fizazi, Zakaria Miloudi, Omar Hadoushi and Abd El-Karim al-Shadali. Many leaders of the group have been detained following the groups major attacks committed on 16 May 2003 in Casablanca.

Salafia Jihadia has been involved in the one-sided category of UCDP organised violence.