Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Morocco has placed its military on alert amid labor unrest and threats by Al Qaida.

Moroccan sources said the army was mobilized to protect critical and government facilities throughout the North African kingdom. They said soldiers were deployed throughout the capital Rabat and other major cities as part of what they termed a major security alert.

“The level of the alert is unprecedented,” a source said.

The sources said the military alert marked cooperation between the army, police, Gendarmerie and Royal Auxiliary Forces. They said the effort was headed by the Interior Ministry, responsible for domestic security.

The reason for the military alert has not been specified. The Moroccan media have raised the prospect of Al Qaida-aligned plots amid labor unrest in the kingdom.

Over the last few months, Rabat has cited the arrest of several cells linked to Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. Most of those detained were accused of recruiting Moroccans for ISIL’s wars in Iraq and Syria.

“The investigations have pointed to cooperation between terrorists in the region and those in Europe,” the source said.

  Morocco places military on ‘unprecedented’ nationwide alert