Algiers hosted, Tuesday, January 2, a new session of the Algeria-Mauritania joint military commission, Mauritanian army said on Thursday in a press release. The military delegation from the southern neighbor was led by General Mohamed Mokhtar Ould El Menni, head of the army, promoted to commander of special forces on December 28, 2023, adds the same source. The session takes place in a particular context, marked by the tense relations between Algeria and its Sahel neighbors, namely Mali and Niger. For the record, Algiers brought together, on November 28, the heads of armies of Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso for better coordination against terrorist groups in the Sahel. But since then the situation has changed. Mauritania was spared the economic sanctions decreed by Algeria against foreign governments, particularly in the Sahel region. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered his government on December 24 to immediately launch an in-depth study, in anticipation of the creation of a free trade zone with Mauritania. This decision was taken the day after the Marrakech meeting, sanctioned by the accession of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to the royal initiative for access of the Sahel States to the Atlantic. Mauritania did not attend this meeting.
