Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition

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Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition
التحالف الإسلامي العسكري لمحاربة الإرهاب
FormationDecember 15, 2015;9 years ago (2015-12-15)
Type Military alliance
Legal statusActive
Purpose Anti-terrorism
Headquarters Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Location
Region
Muslim world
Membership43
List
Official language
Arabic, English, French
Secretary-General of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition
Major General Mohammad bin Saeed Al-Moghedi
Commander of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition
General Raheel Shareef [1]
Website www.imctc.org/en/

The Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) is an intergovernmental counter-terrorist military alliance between 43 member states in the Muslim world, united around the war against the Islamic State and other counter-terrorist activities. [2] [3] Its creation was first announced by Saudi Arabian defence minister Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, on 15 December 2015. [4] [5] The alliance was to have a joint operations center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [6]

Contents

When the coalition was announced there were 34 members. Additional countries joined and the number of members reached 42 when Kenya joined on 1 September 2022. [7] On 6 January 2017, the Former Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan General Raheel Sharif was named the IMCTC's first commander. [8] [9] Most of its participants are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

History and objectives

IMCTC has stated that its primary objective is to protect Muslim countries from all terrorist groups and terrorist organizations irrespective of their sect and name. [10] [11] [12] The IMCTC affirmed that it would operate in line with the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) provisions on terrorism. [13]

At the press conference to launch the IMCTC, Mohammad bin Salman said it would "coordinate" efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan. He said, "There will be international coordination with major powers and international organisations ... in terms of operations in Syria and Iraq." [14]

The alliance does not include any countries with Shia-dominated governments, such as Iran, Iraq and Syria. [15] According to a Euronews report, some analysts see formation of the alliance as part of Saudi Arabian efforts to take the leading role in the Middle East and the Muslim world, in rivalry with Iran. [16] Due to the dominance of the alliance by states having majority Sunni Muslim populations, it has been called "a sectarian coalition" by Hakeem Azameli, a member of the Security and Defense Commission in the Iraqi parliament. [17] [16] [15]

However, Oman, an Ibadi-dominant country has joined the alliance. Lebanon has also supported the alliance. [18] Other countries who are part of the alliance or support it that have cordial or friendly relations with Iran include Bangladesh, Kuwait, Libya, and Pakistan.[ citation needed ]

In March 2016, it was reported that Saudi Arabia had asked the then Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif, to become commander of the ICMTC once he had retired from the Pakistan Army at the end of 2016. [19]

Members

Saudi Arabia's original announcement of the alliance on 15 December 2015 listed 34 countries as participants, [2] each also a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and forming about 60% of all OIC member states. As of May 2025, there are 43 member countries with the joining of Cameroon on 1 May 2025.

CountryMembership announcementMilitary role α SupporterReferences
Flag of Afghanistan (2013-2021).svg Afghanistan (Islamic Republic) [20]
Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain OriginalYesYes [21]
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh OriginalYesYes [6] [22] [23]
Flag of Benin.svg  Benin Original
Flag of Brunei.svg  Brunei
Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso
Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon [24]
Flag of Chad.svg  Chad OriginalYesYes
Flag of the Comoros.svg  Comoros Original
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Côte d'Ivoire Original
Flag of Djibouti.svg  Djibouti Original
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt OriginalYesYes [6]
Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon Original
Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia
Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea Original
Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg  Guinea-Bissau
Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan OriginalYesYes [6]
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1 September 2022YesYes [25]
Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait OriginalYesYes
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon OriginalYes
Flag of Libya.svg  Libya OriginalYesYes [17]
Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia OriginalYesYes [26]
Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives OriginalYesYes
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali Original
Flag of Mauritania.svg  Mauritania OriginalYesYes
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco OriginalYesYes
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger OriginalYesYes
Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria OriginalYesYes [17]
Flag of Oman.svg  Oman 28 December 2016YesYes [7] [27]
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan OriginalYesYes [28] [29] [30]
Flag of Palestine.svg  Palestine Original
Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar Original
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia OriginalYesYes [31] [32] [14]
Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal OriginalYes
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone Original
Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia OriginalYesYes
Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan OriginalYesYes
Flag of Togo (3-2).svg  Togo Original
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia OriginalYesYes
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey OriginalYesYes [17]
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda [33]
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates OriginalYesYes [33]
Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen (PLC Tooltip Presidential Leadership Council)OriginalYesYes
These countries have offered to provide military assistance if needed.

Supporting nations

The following are non-member supporting nations: [34]

Flag of France.svg France
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
Flag of the United States.svg  United States

Prospective additional members

At the time of the original announcement, more than ten other Islamic countries, including Indonesia (the world's largest Muslim populated nation), had expressed their support for the alliance, [2] and Azerbaijan was discussing joining the alliance. [35] [36] [37] In 2018, however, former deputy defense minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin remarked that Indonesia's non-alignment barred the country from joining a military alliance, adding that Vice President Jusuf Kalla had disagreed with Indonesia's accession. [38]

By January 2017, Azerbaijan said that joining was "not on the agenda". [39] Tajikistan's ambassador to Saudi Arabia confirmed that Tajikistan was seriously studying the possibility of joining. [40] [41]

On August 16, 2023, IMCTC's Secretary General, Maj. Gen. Al-Maghedi, pointed that the IMCTC looked forward for the United Republic of Tanzania to join IMCTC and work hand in hand with the rest of IMCTC member states in countering terrorism and violent extremism. [42]

Commanders

CommanderNationalityStart of tenureEnd of tenure
General Raheel Shareef Raheel Sharif at the Global Security Dinner Davos (RS394598) (BBA5350) (cropped).jpg Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 6 January 2017Incumbent [43] [44]

Reactions

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References

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