Russia and Algeria Launch Joint Anti-Terror Drills Near Moroccan Border

In total, some 200 soldiers from the Russian and Algerian anti-terrorist forces will participate in this exercise called Desert Shield, which will take place at the Hammaguir base in the Béchar region, near the southwest border of Algeria with Morocco. The choice of location has nothing to do with the tensions between Algiers and Rabat, which remain tense to date. These joint maneuvers scheduled for November 16-28 were "not aimed at any third country," the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry had previously stressed.

Desert Shield is the third joint exercise the two countries have conducted this year. In October, a detachment of Russian warships docked in the port of Algiers for an exercise with the national naval forces. In September, Algerian soldiers participated in the Vostok-2022 maneuvers in the Russian Eastern Military District. The first joint military exercises between the two countries date back to October 2021. They had taken place on the Tarskoïe training ground in North Ossetia (Caucasus).