Syrian rebels train in the Al-Turkman mountains near Latakia Three Moroccan jihadist fighters were killed in Syria last week, at least two of them in clashes with Syrian regime forces in the key coastal area of Latakia, where rebels seized several Alawite villages in the past week. The three men traveled to Syria to fight alongside Islamic groups ?battling the army of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, despite tight security measures put in place by Moroccan authorities to prevent jihadist militants going to Syria.?
The Moroccan newspaper al-Akhbar said Abu al-Zoubair al-Maghrebi from Salé and ‘Mohammed’ from Tangiers were killed during fighting in Latakia, while a third man, known only as Abu Hamza, was killed in an unknown location.
Nicknamed al-Nebras al-Maghrebi (the Moroccan beacon), ‘Mohammed’ was field commander of the Abada Bin al-Samet brigade, which is thought to comprise of several Moroccan ?fighters.?
Sources told the newspaper that Mohammed was killed in violent clashes ?with Syrian regime troops in the countryside of northern Latakia, continuing to fight until his death when the Abada Bin al-Samet brigade retreated following an advance by government forces.
The news comes during a summer season that has seen the deaths of several ?Moroccan fighters in Syria, with recent media reports suggesting over 200 Moroccans are fighting in the 28-month-old conflict.
Some of the Moroccan fighters are immigrants living in European countries, most notably ?Belgium, where authorities say around 70 fighters, including individuals of ?Moroccan origin, have traveled to Syria to fight Assad’s troops.?
In response, Moroccan authorities have imposed stricter measures to prevent Islamist fighters ?travelling from Morocco to Syria and to neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Iraq and Jordan from where they might cross into the Syrian territory.
In the disputed city of Ceuta in northern Spain, Spanish authorities, in cooperation with their Moroccan counterparts, have cracked down on a jihadist network recruiting ?Moroccan youths to fight in Syria, making several arrests in June. Spanish authorities say dozens of fighters, some of them under 18, have travelled to Syria under the cover of the al-Qaeda linked Ceuta network, some of them carrying out suicide attacks.