Algeria, Mauritania Coordinate Efforts on Cross-Border Terrorism

Algerian Army Chief of Staff Said Chengriha
Algerian Army Chief of Staff Said Chengriha
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Algeria, Mauritania Coordinate Efforts on Cross-Border Terrorism

Algerian Army Chief of Staff Said Chengriha
Algerian Army Chief of Staff Said Chengriha

Algerian Army Chief of Staff Said Chengriha has called on his Mauritanian counterpart, Major General Mohamed Bamba Meguett, to coordinate efforts in facing regional security challenges and strengthening cooperation on the border of the countries of the Sahel region.

Terrorism, smuggling, and the arms trade have been active in the Sahel countries since the outbreak of the Libyan crisis in 2011.

Chengriha received the Mauritanian Chief of Staff who is in Algeria for the first time on a three-day visit, according to a statement issued by the Algerian Defense Ministry.

Chengriha said that boosting military cooperation is crucial to meet security challenges. He noted that both military establishments should consider means to enable the armies to carry their duties in such a situation fraught with dangers and threats.

It is feasible to make greater use of the available security cooperation mechanisms, especially the Joint Military Staff Committee, which will help in exchanging information and coordinating actions, according to the Commander.

He underlined his country’s desire to boost the bilateral military relations to face the various security challenges that threaten the Maghreb and Sahel regions.

Chengriha indicated that Meguett's visit is an opportunity to enhance the cooperation between both armies in areas of common interest, and will allow the development of bilateral relations.

The Mauritanian official discussed with Algerian military and security commanders the developments in the Guerguerat crossing, especially clashes between Moroccan forces and Polisario Front soldiers.

They also addressed intelligence collaboration against extremism, human trafficking, as well as goods, drugs and weapons smuggling across the border.

The Joint Military Staff Committee was established in 2009 in Tamanrasset, southern Algeria.

It includes the chiefs of staff of the armies of Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Algeria. It was launched to confront terrorism threats from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and its affiliates.

The committee doesn’t pursue terrorist groups in the desert, which the four Saharan governments are unable to monitor.

Its weakness was evident when France took the lead in launching a war on terrorism in northern Mali in early 2013, instead of the armies of the four countries.

Security observers believe that there is no point for the committee to meet, given its inaction.

Security affairs experts agree that the Joint Committee is a doomed project, claiming that the four leaders promoted the initiative while they were not prepared to face the serious security challenges of militias.

When it was first launched, the project was expected to carry out military operations in extremist strongholds. However, that wasn’t the case.

Observers also say that the ongoing war in Mali between the local government and extremists has finally put an end to this project.

A spokesman for the Algerian Foreign Ministry told Asharq Al-Awsat earlier that the Joint Staff Committee was created to exchange information and coordinate security efforts, and the aim was never to launch military operations.

He also denied that the project was terminated after the French military intervention, stressing that it is still effective.



Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb

An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

Hezbollah fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast and a 70-year-old woman suffering from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire. The first responders said they also treated two women in their 50s who were wounded in northern Israel.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the rockets or interceptors.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.