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For historical and environmental reasons, many African countries have experienced various types of conflicts. Relations between neighbors Algeria and Morocco in North Africa have continued to strain in recent years, with tensions and confrontations.
Algeria and Morocco, two of their North African neighbors, are major competitors in regional strategy.
The two countries are very close in terms of race, language, culture and religion, but the two countries have gradually parted ways in the course of history, especially during the Cold War, when the two countries chose different camps.
Morocco's most intractable problem was the question of Western Sahara, and Algeria stood behind the Independence Organization of Western Sahara
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Territorial ownership and competition for regional dominance
The real root cause behind the tensions between Algeria and Morocco lies in the region's struggle for leadership and unresolved colonial-era territorial disputes.
When European colonists invaded the region in the 19th century, Morocco was the only independent kingdom in the area. Algeria and other countries and regions in North Africa have been the territory of the Ottoman Empire since the 16th century. Thus, the Moroccans had teased the Algerians for "going directly from being subjects of the Ottoman Empire to being subjects of the French Empire".
North and West Africa have historically been French colonies, and French influence is still projected in this region
By 1884, Western Sahara had been under Spanish control. In 1912, Morocco was also occupied by france. After World War II, Morocco and Algeria became independent, and Spain ended its rule in Western Sahara in 1975.
Morocco and Mauritania carved up the territory of Western Sahara (Mauritania later withdrew); Algeria had no territorial claims against Western Sahara, but supported the Frente POLISARIO, which advocated the independence of Western Sahara, and the two sides had formed a vendetta.
Spain and Mohammauri signed an agreement dividing Western Sahara into two halves, with Morocco in the north and Mauritania in the south
The line in the middle of Western Sahara is the Long Sahara Wall, and the western side of the wall is effectively controlled by Morocco
In retaliation for Algeria's support for the Independence Movement for Western Sahara, Morocco supported the Berber resistance movement in Algeria.
Both countries have a significant percentage of Berbers and are at odds with the government. However, Algeria's vigorous arabization has caused resentment among the Berber community within its borders (mainly the Kabyers of the Kabylian region).
The Berbers are actually quite extensive and widely distributed, and on the basis of this map, the location of Kabylia is roughly circled
Morocco, on the other hand, adopted a relatively moderate policy towards the Berbers, especially the current King, Mohammed VI, who adopted a soft policy towards the Berbers at home and supported the Berber resistance in Algeria externally.
On 14 July 2021, at the Non-Aligned Conference in New York, Morocco's representative to the United Nations expressed in writing his support for algeria's Movement for National Self-Determination (MAK), which algeria has declared a "terrorist organization."
Normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel in 2020; At the same time, Israel and the United States recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara.
During his first official visit to normalize relations with Morocco, the Israeli Foreign Minister publicly expressed dissatisfaction with Algeria's alliance with Iran and accused Algeria of obstructing Israel's accession to the African Union as an observer. From an Algerian perspective, Morocco's alliance with Israel was intended to turn North Africa into a Zionist bridgehead.
In July 2021, the Algerian government was furious after the revelation that Moroccan intelligence agencies had purchased Israeli Pegasus spyware to monitor the mobile phones of more than 6,000 military personnel and dignitaries in Algeria.
On August 9, 2021, a forest fire broke out in the Kabylia region of northern Algeria, killing at least 90 people. The Algerian government identified the fire as an arson planned by the Kabylian separatists "in collusion with foreign forces", and Morocco was naturally the "foreign power".
The question of Western Sahara, the problem of Kabylia, the spyware gate incident, and the fire allegations, the new hatred and the old hatred, completely crushed the relations between the two countries. In August 2021, Algeria announced that it had severed diplomatic relations with Morocco.
After the severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Algeria also cut off the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline (GME), which runs through Morocco through an important channel for transporting Algerian gas to Spain.
Algeria and Morocco turned their faces and tore at each other, and in order to prevent the latter from charging tolls, they simply pinched Spain's gas
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Russian vs American
While diplomatic relations between the two countries continue to be tense, the two sides are also engaged in a small "arms race" in the military field.
In January 2022, King Mohammed VI of Morocco announced the establishment of an "Eastern Military Zone" on the Mo-Afghan border in response to Algeria's "military provocations."
According to a report by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute in Sweden, algeria and Morocco have invested heavily in defense in recent years, and Algeria has become one of the world's top ten arms importers.
In 2021, Algeria's military spending has declined compared to previous years, but still reached 6.1% of GDP, at $9.1 billion, ranking 26th in the world. Morocco's military spending as a share of gdp is 3.4 percent, amounting to $5.4 billion.
The arms race is a game of mutual coercion
In recent years, Algeria, which is rich in oil and gas resources, has accumulated a large amount of foreign exchange through oil and gas exports, and the purchase of weapons is also "not bad money", and military expenditure is also ranked first in Africa.
In recent years, the two countries have spent an estimated $140 billion on an arms race, with Algeria's share of about $100 billion, more than double what Morocco spends ($40 billion).
Algeria, which produces more than two-thirds of its weapons from Russia, is also the world's third-largest global customer of Russian munitions. Since Algeria once fell to the Soviet camp during the Cold War, defense cooperation between the two countries can be traced back to the Soviet period.
Half of Russia's arms dealers' operations in Africa come from Algeria
At present, the main combat equipment of the Algerian Air Force is still Soviet-30 (57 aircraft), MiG-29 (32 aircraft), Su-24 (22 aircraft) and other Russian-made fighters, as well as hundreds of reconnaissance aircraft, transport aircraft, training aircraft and other military aircraft. The Afghan Air Force is also equipped with 16 Mi-26 heavy transport helicopters and 42 Mi-28 attack helicopters.
Algeria has also shown a keen interest in the Su-57, a fifth-generation Russian-made fighter jet. Algeria has ordered 14 Su-57 fighter jets, which are expected to be delivered in 2025, according to Russian media reports, which will make the country the first country in Africa to be equipped with a fifth-generation fighter.
In early 2022, Algeria signed another $7 billion deal with Russia to buy Russian weapons, including fighter jets and other weapons. Not only weapons were bought and sold, but joint military exercises were also conducted. How to say it, pre-sales and after-sales one-stop.
The Royal Moroccan Air Force is mainly equipped with fighters from the United States and other Western countries, and currently has 26 Mirage F1, 25 American F5E and 23 F-16C/D/V fighters. In 2019, the two sides signed a contract to introduce 25 F-16C/D fighter jets, and the Royal Moroccan Air Force will start receiving goods in 2025.
Since then, Morocco signed an agreement with Boeing of the United States to purchase 24 AH-64 attack helicopters in June 2020, with deliveries beginning in 2024.
In December 2020, Morocco reached another $1 billion deal with the United States, which provides drones. In order to counter the Algerian Air Force, the Moroccan side had asked the Israeli defense minister to broker and purchase US-made F-35 fighters.
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Armed
In terms of navy, Algeria has more than 30 large surface ships of various types and 65 patrol boats. Algerian naval warships come from Russia, Italy and other countries.
Among them, in 2011, a San Giorgio class dock landing ship was ordered from Italy, with a full load displacement of 9,000 tons, and has an island structure and a straight-through flight deck, which is very similar in shape to an aircraft carrier.
In recent years, the country's navy has successively received 6 Russian-made Kilo-class conventionally powered submarines, making it a powerful underwater military force in the western Mediterranean region.
The Moroccan Navy, consisting mainly of seven frigates, is significantly inferior in strength to Algeria, but it is still a navy to be reckoned with in africa as a whole.
In the Army, the existing equipment of the Algerian Army mainly includes from the Soviet Union and later Russia, and a small number from Germany, the United Arab Emirates and China, which is equipped with more than 1100 tanks.
From 2014 to 2016, more than 600 T-90SA main battle tanks were purchased from Russia, and about 500 T-72M1 main battle tanks were already equipped during the Soviet era. In addition, 330 T62 main battle tanks and 270 T-55AMV main battle tanks have been modernized and upgraded in recent years.
From 2014 to 2017, the Algerian Army received Russian-made Iskander tactical missile equipment from 4 regiments, one consisting of about 50 vehicles and 48 missiles.
Recent international military competition in Algeria. Source/CCTV News screenshot
Correspondingly, the main battle tank equipped by the Royal Moroccan Army is the American M1A1SA "Abrams" main battle tank, which currently has a total of 384 units, most of which have been purchased from the United States since 2018. In addition, there are 225 American M48A5 main battle tanks, 167 American M60A3, and 260 American M60A3TTS main battle tanks.
The Moroccan Army is also equipped with a small number (148) Russian-made T-72 tanks and 150 Chinese-made VT-1A main battle tanks. Some of the Moroccan Army equipment was made in a cameo appearance in the movie Operation Red Sea.
In terms of missiles, after the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel, Israel promised to supply Morocco with advanced military weapons, including drones. In addition, Israel has supplied Morocco with a 140-kilometer barak-8 defense system. In 2021, Morocco ordered an unknown number of Patriot anti-aircraft missiles from the United States.
In December 2021, Morocco received the first batch of Chinese FD-2000B long-range air defense missile systems (HQ-9 for export) and deployed them in the first dedicated base, which also deployed The Chinese "Tianlong" missile (DK10) with a range of 50 kilometers, Xinhua reported.
According to the speculation of relevant agencies, the base may have deployed the above-mentioned missile system. Source/Google Map
Overall, the arms race between Algeria and Morocco has greatly increased the strength of their militaries. In particular, the strength of Algeria's army is comparable to that of Egypt, the first military power in Africa.
On the Moroccan side, although it is also a large military investment, because its national strength is inferior to that of Algeria, which is rich in oil and gas resources, the overall strength of the army is obviously inferior to that of Algeria. Therefore, in recent days, the voice of King Mohammed VI of Morocco has also been heard to "make peace".
Resources:
1.https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/87055
2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Sahara
3.https://Chinese.aljazeera.net/opinions/long-reads/2022/1/11/2021 Why arabs are buying a lot of weapons
4.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Moroccan_Air_Force
5.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Moroccan_Navy
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Author | Snow in Kilimanjaro
Source: Public account "Earth Knowledge Bureau" (WeChat ID: diqiuzhishiju)