Algeria sends reinforcements to Libyan border

Informed sources in Algeria have revealed that 3,000 soldiers have been sent to reinforce the country’s border with Libya, Quds Press has reported. Senior officers of the Algerian People’s National Armed Forces have also agreed to deploy sophisticated monitoring equipment to detect terrorists attempting to cross the border.

According to Al-Bilad military newspaper, which published the news on Monday, the army plans to intensify security and monitoring patrols along the border. Surveillance flights are part of the plan, especially over the desert areas adjoining the Libyan border. The border between the two countries is thousands of kilometres long; smuggling and infiltration are major problems.

Last week, the Algerian authorities reinforced security following a warning from the West that 11 African countries, including Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, are at risk of terrorist operations carried out by armed groups linked to Daesh in Libya or Al-Qaeda in northern Mali.

Read: Algeria Is Pushing New Military Reinforcements towards the Algerian-Libyan Borders

Many armed groups have been fighting in Libya since a popular uprising overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, while there are also three conflicting governments: the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord, the Libyan National Unity government and the Interim Government in the east.

Although hopes were raised by a recent meeting between Fayez Al-Sarraj, the head of the Government of National Accord, and retired General Khalifa Haftar, supported by the parliament and the Interim Government in the east, it has had no positive results on the ground in Libya.

Read: Libyan PM visits Khartoum to agree strategy amid border tensions