Algeria, Mauritania open first land border crossing

Algeria and Mauritania yesterday opened the first border crossing post between the two countries with the aim of increasing trade and facilitate travel.

Algerian Interior Minister, Noureddine Bedoui, and his Mauritanian counterpart, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, attended the inauguration ceremony at the border post.

Algeria’s Echorouk newspaper said the area’s residents are waiting in anticipation for the border post to open, believing it will increase movement and strengthen social and cultural ties between the Algerian and Mauritanian people.

The border stretches across 460 kilometres of desert, a region used by smugglers and armed groups. It has been declared a military zone on the Mauritanian side.

Read: Algeria-Mauritania border declared a ‘military zone’