Algeria to Host Desert Shield 2022 Joint Military Exercises with Russia

An Algerian military delegation in the Caucasus in 2021 (Mena Defense website)
An Algerian military delegation in the Caucasus in 2021 (Mena Defense website)
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Algeria to Host Desert Shield 2022 Joint Military Exercises with Russia

An Algerian military delegation in the Caucasus in 2021 (Mena Defense website)
An Algerian military delegation in the Caucasus in 2021 (Mena Defense website)

A Russian military facility announced Tuesday that joint military exercises with the Algerian armed forces will take place in November in Algeria.

The press service of the Southern Military District told reporters on Tuesday that the joint Russian-Algerian anti-terrorist drills dubbed Desert Shield 2022 will take place in Algeria’s desert for the first time.

The exercise will be held at the Hammaguir testing ground in Bechar Province near the border with Morocco, TASS reported.

The press service specified that the drills would involve about 80 soldiers from motor rifle units stationed in the North Caucasus and about 80 Algerian soldiers.

During the exercise, the forces will practice search, detection and elimination of terrorist groups in the desert setting.

The first joint Russian-Algerian drills took place in North Ossetia in October 2021 with a total of about 200 soldiers participating and about 40 units of combat and special equipment involved.

Observers said Algeria’s choice of the location has a political and strategic significance.

According to some observers, the exercises are a response to the “African Lion” military drills, which took place in Morocco in June and caused uproar in Algeria due to Israel’s participation for the first time.

Algeria’s specialized website Mena Defense said the type of exercises conducted by the Algerian and Russian paratroopers are “tactical.”

The website, run by Algerian security affairs expert Akram Kharief, reported that a military delegation visited the Caucasus in July 2021 to discuss the exercises in North Ossetia.

The first planning conference was held in the Russian city of Vladikavkaz in April to prepare for the upcoming military exercises.

Both sides coordinated the scenarios of the drill and the logistics.

Maneuvers will consist of tactical moves to search for, detect and destroy illegal armed groups.

Algeria has not issued any official statement about the drills.

However, sources interested in the Algerian-Russian military partnership said the objectives and outlines of the drills were discussed during a March 25 visit to Algeria by Director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Army Gen. Dmitry Shugaev.

Shugaev held talks with Chief of Staff of the Algerian army Lieutenant General Said Chanegriha and discussed bilateral military cooperation, the Algerian defense ministry said in a statement, adding that they exchanged views on issues of common interest.



Planes from Jordan and UAE Airdrop Humanitarian Aid into Gaza

28 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Humanitarian aid supplies are airdropped by military cargo planes over the western part of Deir al-Balah. (dpa)
28 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Humanitarian aid supplies are airdropped by military cargo planes over the western part of Deir al-Balah. (dpa)
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Planes from Jordan and UAE Airdrop Humanitarian Aid into Gaza

28 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Humanitarian aid supplies are airdropped by military cargo planes over the western part of Deir al-Balah. (dpa)
28 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Humanitarian aid supplies are airdropped by military cargo planes over the western part of Deir al-Balah. (dpa)

Two planes from the Jordanian and UAE Air Force airdropped 17 tons of humanitarian aid in Gaza on Monday, Jordan's military said.

The aid packages come as hunger continues to soar across the enclave.

The airdrops took place for the second day as Israel faces increasing pressure over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. However, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, warned that airdrops are “expensive, inefficient and can even kill starving civilians.”

The 17 tons of airdropped aid amounts to less than one aid truck carrying food, based on the World Food Program’s calculation of nearly 19 tons per truck.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday that Germany intends to conduct an airlift of humanitarian aid to Gaza along with Jordan. 

Merz didn’t provide details of the plan after a meeting of his security Cabinet, but said his defense minister will consult with France and Britain, “which are also prepared to make available such an airlift for food and medical goods.” Jordan’s King Abdullah II is due to meet Merz in Berlin on Tuesday. 

Merz said Israel’s move to lift some aid restrictions is “an important first step” but “further ones must follow quickly.” He also stressed the need for a comprehensive ceasefire. 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Spain will airdrop 12 tons of food aid into Gaza from Jordan later this week, via Spanish air force planes. 

Sanchez acknowledged this isn’t a solution to hunger, but hopes it offers “minimal relief” alongside aid from other nations. 

Spain’s government has been a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and has repeatedly called for a ceasefire. 

On Sunday, 180 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza, according to the Israeli military body in charge of overseeing humanitarian aid.

As the death toll from two years of war in Gaza nears 60,000, a growing number of people are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and fueling international criticism of Israel over sharply worsening conditions.

On Monday, the Gaza health ministry said at least 14 people had died in the past 24 hours of starvation and malnutrition, bringing the war's death toll from hunger to 147, including 88 children, most in just the last few weeks.