ANP forces thwart arms’ smuggling operation in Tindouf region

A unit of the National Popular Army (ANP) has foiled on the border with Mauritania, an attempted smuggling of large quantities of weapons and arrested a group of smugglers believed to be associated with terrorist groups of Algerian and Mauritanian nationalities.

Reliable sources told Echorouk that the operation was carried out in the third military province of Béchar two days ago yesterday, precisely in Tindouf’s area of “Nahi”.

The ANP air defense command of the region alerted a local security unit, specialized in fighting terrorism, which swiftly chased the armed group comprising five members, three Mauritanians and two Algerians on board all-terrain vehicles of a Toyota type.

The same sources added that the successful hunting down operation had resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of arms and ammunition including 17 pieces of klashinokov machine-guns, three heavy machine guns, and 12 RPGs.

A security investigation is still underway to unravel all the ins and outs of this arms’ smuggling affair.

Elsewhere in Algeria’s south-eastern part, ANP troops intercepted hours later, an armed convoy in the area of Illizi close to the border with Libya consisting of six vehicles SUVs, and arrested all the 20 elements of the convoy believed to be terrorists who were armed with automatic weapons.

On the same day, ANP forces tracked down and eliminated 4 terrorists in the southern region of Adrar as part of the relentless counter-terrorism struggle.