Algeria Expands Military Infrastructure Near Moroccan Border

"Algeria has started the construction of temporary runways near the border with Morocco, suitable for the landing of tactical transport aircraft such as the C-130," said the Atlantic Observatory of Defense and Armaments (OADA) on X, specifying that "these runways could be used in wartime to provide rapid logistical support, transport troops to the front lines or evacuate the wounded and dead."

According to a Moroccan security source, "the construction of these runways is only the first step in the Algerian plan to establish a new military base facing the kingdom, knowing that several already exist, including an operational one in Tindouf, about 75 kilometers from the Moroccan border." For the record, Algeria had carried out expansion work on its Tindouf base in 2021, dedicated to Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets.

The Algerian media had announced the construction of this air base in 2020, in reaction to the decision of the Moroccan authorities to build a military barracks in Jerada, 38 kilometers from the border with Algeria. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune neither confirmed nor denied this information during an interview given on July 4, 2020 to the France 24 channel.

In February 2022, an African media outlet announced the construction by the Algerian army of a new base in the Bechar region, near the border with Morocco. A month earlier, the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) of Morocco had created the Eastern Military Zone, the third in the kingdom. The two neighboring countries continue to engage in an arms and military infrastructure race. The objective is to secure their borders and prepare for any possible attack.