France, March 11 -- The findings come from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in Sweden, which tracks global arms transfers.

Its latest report published this week shows Morocco's imports of major weapons rose by 12 percent between 2021 and 2025 compared with the 2016-2020 period.

Major weapons include equipment such as armoured vehicles, fighter jets, warships and missile systems.

Morocco now ranks 28th in the world among arms-importing countries, as Rabat continues to modernise its armed forces in a region marked by "persistent tensions" with neighbouring Algeria, the report said.

Algeria's own arms imports fell by 78 percent over the same period.

But Sipri urged caution with the figures, noting that Algeri...