Alleged Airstrikes on Tunisian Border
On 27 August, the Arabic media publication El Bilad, released an article detailing a series of alleged changes to the Algerian security forces’ (ASF) strategy along the country’s eastern borders with Libya and Tunisia. The article referred to the installation of 300 new control centres along the border, and the deployment of an additional 5,000 troops to oversee their construction and operation. The article also referred to cooperation between the ASF and Tunisian border security forces as part of a counter-terrorism operation currently under way in the Mount Chaambi region on the Tunisian side of the border. The operation has involved intensive cordon and search activities targeting militant hideouts used by the Tunisian Uqba ibn Nafa brigade. According to the article, the ASF is supporting Tunisia’s forces by flying military jets overhead to assist with monitoring, and also by conducting air strikes along the border. These air strikes have targeted sites believed to be used as covert militant paths, presumably in an effort to contain any possible cross-border movement.
Several reports were identified confirming the installation of an additional 300 surveillance cameras along the eastern border (as opposed to control centres). However, no supporting evidence from local media or in-country sources corroborates the report that the Algerian air force has been conducting airstrikes along its own border, a measure which would mark a significant escalation in military activity in these regions. The credibility of these reports therefore cannot be independently verified. An Algiers-based contact suggested that such measures were “possible”. However, despite the remoteness of the region, it is highly unlikely that the ASF would carry out airstrikes on or near its own territory without sufficient cause. The article may have misidentified Tunisian airstrikes on the Tunisian side, which has been designated as a demilitarised zone. Unlike in Algeria, Tunisian airstrikes on targeted positions were confirmed in other reports. A second potentially more likely explanation is that the ASF used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones to carry out strikes on precise locations, which could be conducted more covertly and with less likelihood of collateral damage. The Algerian air force is known to operate drones for surveillance purposes and is believed to have tested an unconfirmed number of weaponised drones.
The increased focus on border security most likely reflects ongoing precautionary posturing, rather than responses to the intelligence of specific threats.
The Algerian media focus on border security has increased in recent weeks, given the uncertainty over the recent developments in Sirte, Libya, and the ongoing cross-border militant movement between Algeria and Tunisia. Most reports have tended to sensationalise military movements anywhere near the border region and frame such activities in terms of decisive responses to the perception of an increased regional threat. The military likely encourages this perception. However, we have seen no evidence that the threat level for eastern Algeria from militant activity in either Tunisia or Libya has materially changed over the past month. As such, these measures more likely reflect ongoing precautionary posturing, rather than responses to intelligence of specific threats.