Troublemakers involved in stoking “discord” in Ghardaia before Justice on Monday

The number of people arrested by the Gendarmerie and police forces on suspicion of involvement in sectarian violence and vandalism which beset Ghardaïa province in southern Algeria has been set at 50 in addition to the seizure of a large number of firearms, knifes, axes and Molotov cocktails.

These arrests followed combing operations conducted in several trouble-spots of the region by the combined law enforcement forces over the past few days.

The latter raided several areas of Ghardaia where masked troublemakers were said to be entrenched and proceeded to a number of arrests standing now at fifty, informed sources told “Echorouk”.

They are expected to be brought before justice on Monday to answer for their horrendous misdeeds including wanton violence, breaching public order,  acts of vandalism and destruction of private and public property in several parts of Ghardaia province, the same sources added.

But it was the first time firearms were reportedly used in confrontations between members of the local “Ibadite and Maliki” communities.

That and the highest death toll in years prompted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to order the ANP army to move into Ghardaia and restore law and order.

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal toured the troubled province on Thursday, saying the government was determined to take “appropriate and firm action” and that the army had been given “all the necessary powers to re-establish order in the entire province.