In a high voltage context with Algiers, the Moroccan territory has been redecutive in three areas to give “more flexibility and freedom of action” to its army.
Le Monde with AFP
Morocco has created a new military region along its border with Algeria, in full voltage between the two neighbors of the Maghreb, said Monday, February 21, the official journal of the Moroccan army.
The Moroccan territory, which was then divided into two military, northern and southern regions, is now cutting into three sectors with the creation of the new “area is” along the eastern border with Algeria. The command of this area has been entrusted to the General de Division Mohammed Miqdad, whose investiture ceremony took place on January 5, said the review of the royal armed forces (FAR) in its last edition.
“The purpose of this entity is to ensure the consistency of the command, control and support of the land, aerial and maritime components of the FAR”, and give them “more flexibility and freedom of action, necessary for the accomplishment of the different missions “, according to the same source.
The creation of the new military zone occurs in a period of tension between Rabat and Algiers, especially about Western Sahara and the recent rapprochement between Morocco and Israel. In August, after months of friction, Algiers broke his diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing him “hostile actions”. Rabat regretted a “completely unjustified” decision.
“Legitimate Defense”
The question of Western Sahara, former Spanish colony considered as an “non-self-governing territory” by the UN, opposes Morocco to the Independentists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria.
Rabat, which controls more than two thirds of the territory, proposes a plan of autonomy under its sovereignty. The Polisario claims a referendum of self-determination under the aegis of the United Nations, provided for signing in 1991 of a ceasefire, but never materialized.
The Polisario claimed to have killed twelve Moroccan soldiers in February during different attacks in the played territory. The Moroccan authorities generally refrain from responding to the allegations of the Polisario Front.
In mid-November 2020, a ceasefire in force for twenty-nine years in Western Sahara had shattered after the deployment of Moroccan troops to the extreme south of the territory to dislodge independentists who blocked the only road to Mauritania. According to them, the artery is illegal because it did not exist when signing the 1991 agreements.
Since then, the Polisario is called “in a state of legitimate defense” and publishes a daily newsletter of its operations.