chargement...
After El Arja in 2021, the Algerian army carried out a new intervention on February 4, 2026, this time in Ksar Ich, in the province of Figuig. Acting unilaterally, Algerian soldiers marked out boundaries on the ground, leaving local residents confused and alarmed. Located between 60 and 80 kilometers from the urban center, this village in the rural commune of Beni Guil is home to around 20 to 25 families who cultivate land passed down through generations.
«Compared to El Arja, this area is even smaller, more isolated from the city, and sparsely populated. As a result, it is in an even more vulnerable position when it comes to Algerian incursions», said Ahmed Noureddine, a researcher in international relations, speaking to Yabiladi.
The specialist voiced serious concern about the fate of these households, which he says are too few to withstand repeated provocations. «If this pressure continues, the population will not be able to hold out and will eventually be forced to leave on its own», Noureddine warned. «Overnight, landowners were barred from accessing their olive groves, which are not even located on ridgelines or natural borders», added the researcher, who is also an architect.
«When heirs are denied access to their agricultural land on national territory, it accelerates forced displacement and leads to further fragmentation. A response from the Moroccan side is necessary, even if only to physically demarcate the area and ensure that Algerian soldiers stop targeting the local population».
Originally from Figuig, Noureddine says he has personally experienced such incursions. «I lived through these repeated incidents firsthand. Algerian soldiers targeted everyone, including younger people like my friends and me when we were teenagers spending summers in the Zouzfana riverbed, where many locals gather. Armed soldiers confronted us and took our personal belongings», he recalled.
Intimidation over the years
Pointing to the many testimonies shared by residents, Noureddine called for securing what he described as the «fait accompli borders» in favor of local communities who bear the direct consequences of these actions. «This does not undermine Morocco’s right to review these borders on a broader scale and over a longer timeframe when diplomatic conditions allow, in accordance with the 1972 agreement with Algeria, which cannot be selectively applied but must be considered in its entirety», he said.
«If Algiers invokes this text to justify each incursion or land seizure, then the entire agreement must apply. Otherwise, it is null and void. In the short term, a clear demarcation by Morocco could ease the daily hardship of residents, which did not begin in 2021 with El Arja».
Noureddine went further, arguing that «the Battle of Amgala in 1976 alone constitutes a flagrant violation that nullifies the 1972 agreement». In that case, he said, the legal reference would revert to the border defined by the 1845 Treaty of Lalla Maghnia between Morocco and France, as well as the 1901 and 1902 protocols that placed Figuig on the Moroccan side. He added that the porous border between Figuig and Tindouf stretches over 1,200 kilometers.
In Figuig province, Noureddine also reported repeated thefts carried out by uniformed and armed Algerian soldiers near palm groves along the riverbed, areas that are «undeniably on the Moroccan side». «There have also been cases of livestock theft, repeated assaults on shepherds, and even farmers being arrested, taken to Colomb-Béchar, sentenced in Algeria, and later forced to return to Figuig via Algiers by plane», he said.
For Noureddine, these incidents form part of a broader pattern that must be documented. «These are stories that need to be told to show how Algeria carries out provocations affecting all border populations, as has already happened even in Saïdia», he said. He also pointed to what he described as double standards, noting that «many Algerian soldiers claim to be lost when crossing the border, yet are retrieved by Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces and peacefully returned to Algeria».
A pattern of escalating hostility
In this context, Noureddine stressed that what happened on February 4, 2026, should not be minimized or justified as a simple border adjustment under the 1972 agreement. «This hostile act against Moroccan sovereignty in Ksar Ich, involving the seizure of land inherited by farmers for centuries, is not an isolated incident», he insisted.
Ahmed Noureddine
He cited what he described as a series of hostile acts against both the Moroccan state and its citizens, including the killing of three young men by the Algerian army at the border, as well as the shooting of three young men off the coast of Saïdia, acts he characterized as violations of both international and domestic law.
On the military front, Noureddine also pointed to Algeria’s repeated live-fire exercises near the Moroccan border, which he described as acts of war. He further criticized Algeria’s decision to close its airspace to Moroccan civilian aircraft, including flights carrying Moroccan pilgrims to Mecca.
«The list of these acts of aggression, which have intensified since 2021, when Algeria unilaterally severed diplomatic relations with Morocco, is too long to recount. Algiers knows that Rabat does not want war, and it exploits this to intensify incursions and seize more land».
While acknowledging Morocco’s official position rejecting a devastating conflict between the two countries, Noureddine argued that violations of citizens’ rights and the confiscation of their property cannot be ignored. He concluded by calling on the Moroccan state to initiate procedures with the United Nations and international and regional organizations to hold Algeria accountable for its actions.
