The Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) has given its assurance that it will extend full cooperation to the Maldivian government's efforts to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism.

This was reaffirmed by the Secretary-General of the IMCTC, Major General Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Moghedi who paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Defense and National Security of the Maldives, Mariya Ahmed Didi on Monday.

The meeting, held at the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) IHQ, saw the coalition’s Secretary General reassuring the Maldivian minister that the coalition is willing to extend its full cooperation to the government of Maldives’ efforts to prevent and counter terrorism as well as to counter violent extremism through avenues such as providing well-qualified Islamic scholars in a bid to better educate the public on religious issues. The coalition is also willing to provide anti-terror response equipment to the Maldives.

Speaking at the meeting, Mariya assured that the government fully support the national and international counter-terrorism efforts under the "Zero Tolerance Against Terrorism and Violent Extremism" policy of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

With this being said, she noted the ongoing deployment of MNDF officers at the IMCTC's Counter Terrorism Center in the Saudi capital Riyadh, since January 2020, having extended the one-year term of service.

Established in December 2015, the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition is a 41-member coalition established with the purpose of protecting Muslim countries from all terrorist groups and terrorist organizations irrespective of their sect and name, and coordinating counter-terrorism efforts among countries

Monday’s meeting was joined by Director General of National Counter Terrorism Center Brigadier General Zakariyya Mansoor, Military Secretary to the Minister of Defense Brigadier General Abdul Matheen Ahmed, Commander of Maldivian contingent at IMCTC Colonel Mohamed Mukhthar, and Principal Director of MNDF's Department of International Defense Cooperation LTC Ahmed Shareef.