6,000 Algerian soldiers stationed on Tunisian border

The Algerian army has deployed over 6,000 soldiers on its borders with Tunisia in order to deal with the “potential infiltration of armed Salafi groups”. The past few weeks have witnessed clashes between the Tunisian army and two groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

The Algerian air and ground forces charged with monitoring the eastern borders with Tunisia are working in coordination with the Tunisian authorities to pursue these two armed groups. The first group is holed up in the El Kef Mountains, and the second in Mount Alhaanbe in the Kasserine area bordering Tunisia.

Algerian newspaper “El Khaber” reported on Wednesday that the Algerian authorities a direct line of communication between ground and air operations in Algeria and Tunisia will be established to combat terrorist activity and to have immediate exchange of information between the security services.

The paper quoted a source saying as that the Chief of Staff of the Algerian army has put into effect a new security plan to tighten supervision of the joint borders with Tunisia. This is in accordance with an agreement made between the two sides during the visit of the Tunisian Chief of Staff to Algeria’s Defence Ministry.

It is worth noting that the official spokesperson for the Tunisian Ministry of Interior, Mohamed Ali Al-Aroui, announced last week that the two armed groups being pursued by the security forces and army near the borders with Algeria are affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb countries.

The Ministry of Interior began pursuing these two armed groups in December 2012 when police in the area of Feriana, located in the Kasserine area, arrested 6 individuals in a four-wheel drive car containing weapons, maps, and military uniforms.