Morocco’s King Appoints Army Inspector General Succeeding Belkheir Al-Farouq

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has appointed Supreme Commander and Chief of General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), Lieutenant General Mohamed Briz, as the new inspector general and commander of the southern region to replace Lieutenant General Belkheir Al Farouq.

“On this occasion, and thanks to His Majesty (King Mohammed VI), May God Assist Him, General Belkheir was awarded the Throne Decoration, in recognition of his distinguished career path and the outstanding services he has rendered in the service of the throne and the nation,” the Ministry of Royal Palaces, Honors and Decorations said in a statement.

Belkheir Al-Farouq was honored in a wheelchair at the Royal Palace in Casablanca, and received a royal welcome during his Eid Al-Fitr greeting.

The new inspector general of the Moroccan army, the commander of the southern region, was born in 1955 and is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy (Armor Corps), according to the supreme command of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. He has accumulated a long military experience spanning 43 years, including the field of preparation and training.

He also holds a diploma from the French National Defense College and a master’s degree in national defense. He has already taken on several field responsibilities in the Royal Armed Forces, including in the 3rd and 4th Royal Armored Brigades. He has also led the Third High Command Office of the Royal Armed Forces since 2014.

The appointment of Lieutenant General Mohamed Briz as inspector general of the Moroccan army and commander of the southern region comes about two months after Morocco established a military zone in the east of the country similar to the one in the south. It is the first time that he is heading east to establish an integrated region on the border with Algeria.

The new appointment is not outside the path led by the King of Morocco to strengthen the defense integration of the Kingdom, which in recent years has embarked on a new phase of strengthening the armed forces, improving their defense capabilities in the face of security challenges in the region and in keeping with the strengthening of the army with competence.

Morocco had some time ago appointed General Mohamed Mekdad to head the Eastern Province, a military figure with years of experience in dealing with security challenges in the border regions, and one of the military leaders who managed complex tasks in the Moroccan Sahara.

The appointment of Lieutenant General Mohamed Briz as Commander of the Southern Region and as Inspector General of the Army reinforces the defense integration between the two regions, as well as the reinforcement of the armed forces with the skills of its experienced sons to improve performance, preparedness and develop defense capabilities.