‘Military base near Algeria border to house soldiers’, says Morocco army

The Moroccan army confirmed that the military base under construction near the Algerian border is not designated for military purposes, but it is rather intended to “house soldiers”.

This comes after Moroccan media reported last week that Prime Minister Saadeddine El-Othmani issued a decree to allocate 23 hectares of land in the Jaradah area to build a military base for the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces.

The army said in a statement: “The construction of a new base comes within the framework of the project to transfer barracks out of cities,” explaining that the military facilities will be built in the Jaradah region, 38 kilometres away from the Algerian borders, and “will be dedicated to harbouring soldiers, having no practical goal.”

Moroccan news website Le Collimateur reported earlier that the new military base “is part of major efforts made by Morocco since 2014 to tighten security precautions in its land borders with Algeria, adding that “a wall 150 kilometres in length has already been built on the border between Saidia and Jaradah.”

This comes amidst increased tensions between the neighbours as a result of the Western Sahara region which Algeria recently described as “occupied” angering Rabat.

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