By Bakari Guèye in Nouakchott
for Magharebia
Mauritania and Morocco are working together to secure their vast frontier [AFP/Patrick Hertzog]
The border between Mauritania and Morocco is a favourite area for smugglers, which explains why it is monitored so closely by both countries.
The Moroccan army has “raised the alert level to its highest state” at the kingdom’s south-eastern border with Mauritania, “to prevent possible incursions by elements of an international drug trafficking network”, Al Massae reported on January 28th.
The “Saharan no-man’s-land straddling Moroccan and Mauritanian territory” is nicknamed “Kandahar”, the daily added, for the prevalence of criminal actors and those who pursue them.
This vast desert region is difficult to control, agreed security expert Abdou Ould Mohamed, but security forces are rising to the challenge.
“With the emergence of the jihadist movements, the military presence has been increased,” he noted. “Last December, the Mauritanian army conducted a large-scale operation in the Bir Mogreen area, seizing 10 tonnes of cannabis and five vehicles, and leaving two smugglers dead.”
“Since 2010, the Mauritanian army has set up security corridors on the northern and eastern borders to deal with infiltration by terrorist groups active in the area, and to prevent smuggling of all kinds from developing there,” Ould Mohamed said. “That strategy, which has brought a reduction in the drugs trade in Mauritania, according to the security services, has been praised on a number of occasions by African and European heads of state.”
According to Jidou Ould Sidi, a journalist who specialises in security matters, the issue is just as essential for Mauritania as it is for Morocco.
“In October 2014, border security between the two countries was in the centre of discussions during the visit of the Mauritanian interior minister to Rabat. The two parties agreed to increase co-operation on security matters, particularly the fight against organised transnational crime, terrorism, illegal migration and drug smuggling, as well as exchanging more information and expertise,” he noted.
Ould Sidi added: “Morocco is highly committed to the security aspect of the border. In November 2013, Rabat hosted a regional conference on greater border security between the countries of the Sahel and the Maghreb.”
“A few months ago, Morocco was also the venue for a regional conference on improving border security between the countries of the Sahel and the Maghreb and a summit meeting of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) on the same subject,” Ould Sidi said.
At the time, Mbarka Bouaida, minister delegate at Morocco’s foreign ministry, stressed “the importance of setting up a mechanism to bring together the countries of the Sahel-Saharan region and increase inter-regional cooperation between the countries of the Sahel, West Africa and the Maghreb”.
