Argelia construirá una base militar en la frontera con Marruecos

Relations between Algeria and Morocco are not at their best. Since the expulsion of the Moroccan consul in the Algerian city of Oran last June 9 for declaring that "Algeria is an enemy state", there has been a constant exchange of accusations between the two Maghreb countries. Now, tension has escalated again with the announcement by Algiers to build a military base near the border between the two nations, with the aim of "strengthening security measures on the western borders of the country".

However, this decision is seen by many analysts as a response to the Moroccan project to build a similar 23-hectare large facility for the Alaouite Army in the province of Jerada, just 38 kilometres from Algerian territory. "In fact, Rabat's announcement of the construction of the base very close to the border was very badly received in Algeria," the local ObservAlgerie said. "This decision aims to counter the suspicious manoeuvres of the Alaouite Kingdom which would constitute a threat to national security in Algeria," they add. "This structure will be designed to protect the country's borders and national security against direct risks and threats," the daily Echorouk reported. "We are going to build a similar or larger base in return. We have everything we need to set up such a project," says a source at TSA Algérie.

Rabat announced on May 24 its plans for the province of Jerada, within the framework of the military strategy implemented since 2014 to further protect its land border with Algiers, according to local media. The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) denied on May 30 that the new military base, to be established in the forest of Beni Yaala, in the commune of Laâouinate, would pursue a strategic objective, as it would simply be a "small barracks to house troops". "Other barracks, established for a long time, occupy a similar location regarding the border line, indicating the facility will accommodate troops," FAR said. Furthermore, as Le Desk explained from the Moroccan milieu, both the topography of the terrain - in the heart of a forest - and the fairly small area in which it is to be built, as well as its location, which is very exposed, would confirm the non-strategic use of the future military installation.

Nevertheless, Algeria has denounced that Morocco intends to use the future base in Jerada as an electronic espionage centre, in a project in which, according to Algiers, Israel is helping. "Our own sources add that this base, probably operational, houses advanced electronic equipment provided by the Zionist entity," they say from Le Courrier d'Algérie. "It is no secret that the Zionists are at the forefront of electronic espionage, large-scale computer attacks with malware, capable of causing serious damage to a state like Algeria. It is therefore normal and legitimate for Algeria to protect itself against it [the Jerada base]," says analyst Mohamed Abdoun in the publication. "If Morocco, because of its criminal and colonialist actions, has always represented a danger to Algeria, this bitter observation has never been truer. Considering establishing a Moroccan-Israeli military base on our borders, which will be filled with ultra-sophisticated equipment, can only mean one thing: Morocco plans to carry out hostile actions against Algeria. Their war against our country may have already begun," he warns. 

In this line, the Alaouite press accuses its Algerian counterparts of heating up the atmosphere between the two states: "When it was published at the end of May, the information had already been accompanied by alarmist articles in the Algerian press, thus feeding the persistent tensions between the two pillars of the Maghreb and their frantic arms race", criticised Le Desk from Morocco.