Rabat – Starting November 1, the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) have begun “strongly reinforcing their presence” along land border crossings with Mauritania and Algeria, “following supreme orders,” reported the daily Al Massae quoting anonymous sources.
According to the newspaper, FAR received instructions to bolster its surveillance of the Algerian and Mauritanian borders, which actively serve as smuggling points of people, goods, and weapons.
The action reportedly follows higher instructions to put an end to the growing activities of extremist organizations along these borders. Morocco has recently adopted a plan to install “modern monitoring technology” on the Moroccan-Mauritanian border to control the smuggling of weapons and the flow of terrorists from Sahel countries to Morocco, added the daily.
At the Algerian border, the military will increase its patrols and start using modern radar and infrared surveillance methods, especially in the Jaradah province.
King Mohammed VI, the Supreme Commander of the Royal Armed Forces, appointed more than 15 high ranking officers, joining the ranks of generals and colonels who will take part in “important duties and responsibilities” in the southern region of the country, said the daily.
News of the instruction has not been reported by official news agency MAP and is still unconfirmed.
Nonetheless, the reported moves come after previous initiatives to better secure Morocco perimeter. Inflows of smuggled goods to Morocco declined in 2016, against a backdrop of increased law enforcement activity and border security, especially on the Algeria-Morocco border.
