Algeria raises alert level along border with Libya

The Algerian army has raised its state of alert along the border with Libya after ISIS-inspired militants took control of areas in west Libya close to the border with Algeria, an Algerian security source said on Wednesday.

The anonymous source told Turkey’s Anadolu news agency that “Algeria’s Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army, Admiral Ahmed Kaid Saleh, ordered all ground forces, the national gendarmerie, Special Forces and Air Force stationed in the border areas with Libya to increase their alert level.”

The source pointed out that “the Algerian army received strict orders to shoot immediately in the event of any attempt to infiltrate into the Algerian territory,” pointing out that the decision came “after ISIS controlled areas in the city of Sirte amid significant retreat by the Libyan army forces and its allies.”

Algeria and Libya share a border of Iver 1,000 km of open desert that witnessed several infiltration operations by Al-Qaeda affiliate groups following the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.

The Algerian authorities have deployed yens of thousands of military personnel in th past few months to enhance the security situation on the border area with Libya.

On Tuesday, an Algerian source told Anadolu agency that army officials from Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia have arranged for an urgent meeting to discuss the security situation in Libya.