Algerian maneuvers in the Sahara, near the Moroccan border

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As the main supporter of the Sahrawi separatists, Algeria carried out military maneuvers in the area under the control of the Polisario Front.

The Algerian army carried out important and spectacular air-land maneuvers in Tindouf (South), a Sahara province under the administration of the Polisario Front and bordering Morocco, according to images on Algerian public television broadcast Monday evening. This exercise, dubbed Al-Hazm 2021 (“Resolution” 2021), took place on Sunday and Monday under the supervision of the Chief of Staff of the National People’s Army (PNA), General Saïd Chanegriha.

Images to mark Algerian presence and support for the Polisario
For nearly a quarter of an hour, television showed a tactical exercise with live missiles, including the latest version of the Russian anti-tank missile Kornet. “Resolution 2021” mobilized tanks, all-terrain vehicles, Mi28 helicopters, Sukhoi SU-30 MKA fighter jets and Iliushin IL-78 Midas refueling aircraft. The Algerian army has for the first time exhibited an American Beechcraft 1900 MMSA-Hissar electronic reconnaissance aircraft, the only non-Russian weapon on display. “These exercises are part of the evaluation of the first phase of the combat readiness program for the year 2020-2021”, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense. They “aim to develop combat experience,” General Chanegriha said in a speech. Referring to regional instability, the Chief of Staff stressed that Algeria “deserves that its army is constantly up to the challenges it faces today, and that it remains eternally free, sovereign and tenacious. facing the enemies of yesterday and today ”, without citing these enemies.

Regional tensions and “imminent threats”
Equipped with Russian equipment, the Algerian army is by far the leading military power in the Maghreb. In its December issue, the influential ANP magazine El-Djeïch called on Algerians to be ready to face “imminent threats”. Its editorial reported “the deterioration of the regional situation along our border strip and the threat that certain enemy parties have posed to the security of the region in recent times”. The largest country in Africa, Algeria shares more than 6,500 kilometers of borders with seven countries, some of which are in the throes of conflict. Algiers recently denounced “foreign maneuvers” aimed at destabilizing it and singled out Israel, after the United States recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the former Western Sahara, in return for a normalization of relations with Rabat. with the Hebrew state.

Morocco controls a large part of the former Western Sahara within the framework of the “Southern Provinces” which it considers to be an integral part of its territory. The Saharawi separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algiers, are calling for a self-determination referendum planned by the UN. In addition, a group of Russian warships – consisting of a frigate, a tug and a supply tanker – docked at the port of Algiers on Monday as part of a three-day “technical stopover”. according to a press release from the Algerian Ministry of Defense. This stopover is part of “military cooperation activities” between the two countries, long-time allies, the statement said.