Moroccan Royal Guard

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Moroccan Royal Guard is the official Royal Guard of Morocco. It draws its origins from the prestigious Black Guard that was created in 1088 by the Almoravid ruler Yusuf ibn Tashfin as his personal guard. It has the moniker of "the black guard" due to the origin of its troops, traditionally recruited from the southern borders of Almoravid territories , in the area of the Senegal river. ^[1]

This recruitment tradition was continued by the Almohads, through the 15th century by the Saadis. The Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail reorganized this body with infantry and cavalry at the beginning of the 18th century. He called upon Bambara men who had just converted to Islam, making them take oath on the collection of hadith of the Imam Bukhari, for which they are also known under the name the "Army of Bukhara" or the Boukharis. ^[2]

Nowadays, the Moroccan Royal Guard is composed of more than 3000 men organized in 4 battalions of infantry and 2 squadrons with horses.

Contents 1 Weapons 1.1 Rifles 1.2 Submachine guns 1.3 Pistols 1.4 Machine Guns 1.5 Heavy Machine Guns 1.6 Rocket Launchers 1.7 Anti-Tank Missiles 1.8 Mortars 1.9 Self-Propelled Artillery 1.10 Combat Vehicles 2 See also 3 References and notes

[edit] Weapons

[edit] Rifles

• M16A2
• FN FAL
• AK-47

[edit] Submachine guns

• Heckler & Koch MP5

[edit] Pistols

• Beretta

[edit] Machine Guns

• FN MAG
• AA-52

[edit] Heavy Machine Guns

• M2 Browning
• ZPU-2

[edit] Rocket Launchers

• RPG-7
• RPG-9

[edit] Anti-Tank Missiles

• BGM-71 TOW

[edit] Mortars

• L16 81mm Mortar
• M120 120 mm mortar

[edit] Self-Propelled Artillery

• M40 GMC

[edit] Combat Vehicles

• Humvee

[edit] See also

• Black Guard
• Imperial Guard
• National Guard
• Military of Morocco
• Republican Guard

[edit] References and notes

Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent French-language wikipedia article, accessed December 19 2006.