Mali is certainly part of Algeria’s plans in terms of economic horizons, with these free zones that Algiers has started to install with its neighbors. In the meantime, there is diplomatic bickering to manage, a tension that has been rising crescendo since the Malian military junta had a bad idea at the end of last January to slash the Algiers Accords, initialed in 2015 to make peace with the rebels in the North. For the Algerian authorities, managing the conflict with Bamako also means showing the muscles of the People’s National Army (ANP), to keep the Malian authorities in check but also all the jihadist groups roaming the region. The ANP carried out an impressive military exercise yesterday, Wednesday, February 28, on the border with Mali.
This large-scale “ tactical exercise with live ammunition ”, called “ Hoggar Storm 2024 ”, was organized in Tamanrasset, in the 6th Military Region (Bordj Badji Mokhtar operational sector). The Chief of Staff of the ANP, General Saïd Chanegriha, was in charge. Algerian troops carried out attacks with live ammunition…
Furthermore, the exercise included ” an air landing operation using Special Forces helicopters ” plus a parachute operation ” into the depths of the defenses (…) of a non-conventional enemy “, therefore clearly the terrorists who are swarming in the zone. “ These combat actions (…) bear witness to high professionalism and an advanced level of training and combat preparation of the various units of the ANP,” indicates the Ministry of Defense in its press release.
Well, the exercise took place a few hundred kilometers from the border with Mali (exactly 665 km) but according to observers the strong media coverage of the operation clearly indicates that it is a message in the direction of the Malian junta and jihadist cells which frequently strike in the area, notably the JNIM (Support Group for Islam and Muslims). The best-equipped army on the African continent had to roar.
Algiers will never give up on Mali, it is doing like ECOWAS: A bet on the future by telling itself that after all Colonel Assimi Goïta is not eternal, even if the putschists have been evading since the coup d’état of 2000 to organize elections and hand over power to civilians. Algeria too, even if it will say nothing about it, is betting on civil society to push the military towards the exit. Moreover, around thirty opposition parties and civil society organizations have set up the “Synergy of Action for Mali” coalition to force the putschists to leave.
And when constitutional order is restored, which will inevitably happen, Algeria will jostle to place itself at the forefront of Mali’s trading partners, as it is currently doing to impose itself in Mauritania. Alger sees far and wide, and she is right. Military force is certainly necessary – it is the basis of everything – but we also need a political and economic strategy to ensure its place in the sun. From this point of view, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is off to a good start with the presidency of the APRM (African Peer Review Mechanism).
