Algeria, Russia to Hold Anti-Terror Military Drills

Russian troops. (AFP)
Russian troops. (AFP)
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Algeria, Russia to Hold Anti-Terror Military Drills

Russian troops. (AFP)
Russian troops. (AFP)

The Russian Southern Military District announced on Tuesday that joint anti-terror drills between Russian and Algerian ground forces will take place in Algeria in November, TASS reported.

The first planning conference was held in the Russian city of Vladikavkaz to prepare for the joint Russian-Algerian anti-terror military exercises, which are scheduled to be held at the Hammaguir base in southern Algeria, the press office of the Southern Military District said in a statement.

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.

About 80 soldiers from the southern military region are expected to participate in the exercises.

“The plan of the combat drills of the forces of the Southern Military District for 2022 stipulates the participation of soldiers from the region in international exercises with units of the armed forces of Algeria, Egypt, Kazakhstan and Pakistan,” TASS added.

Algeria did not issue 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 Director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Army Gen. Dmitry Shugaev’s visit to Algeria on March 25.

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.

The Russian military official visited Algeria as part of a delegation that participated in a meeting of the “Algerian-Russian Joint Governmental Committee in charge of military and technical cooperation between the two countries.”

Algiers had acquired its military equipment and most of its weapons from the former Soviet Union since its independence in the 1960s.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.