ANP army enters the “battle” to contain current oil crisis

The Deputy Minister of national defense, Army Chief of staff, Lieutenant-General, Ahmed Gaid Salah, has ordered all the military regions of the country to tighten the screws on the scourge of cross-border smuggling that has drained the national economy in an awesome way over the past few years.

Authorized sources told “Echorouk” that Gaid Salah’s firm instruction was meant for all army units across the country’s six military regions and was dictated by the need to confront the smuggling lobbies that have become a real threat to the national economy, especially at the present juncture marked by the collapse of oil prices, the main source of foreign revenues for Algeria and the mainstay of the economic, social and security balances of the country.

Such an instruction was conveyed specially to those Army units adjacent to the Algerian borders with neighboring countries with the aim of focusing on specific areas affected by cross-border smuggling and illicit trade, covering among other things, fuel, livestock and foodstuffs, particularly such staple commodities as flour, pasta, milk and its derivatives in addition to  edible oil.

Army Chief of staff,  Ahmed Gaid Salah, also enjoined the ANP troops deployed across the borders to protect the national economy from the nefarious effects of the deleterious phenomenon of smuggling and to counter any attempt to smuggle national wealth into neighboring countries.