The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed this Tuesday that Morocco rejected humanitarian aid to mitigate the effects of Friday’s earthquake and that it sent support to mitigate the effects of the storm that hit Libya on Sunday.
To support the humanitarian operations triggered by the earthquake in Morocco, which caused more than 2,900 deaths and 5,500 injuries, the Algerian authorities announced on Monday the mobilization of three high-capacity military aircraft and a Civil Protection and Crescent intervention team. Red composed of 93 specialized lifeguards, awaiting authorization from Rabat.
According to images broadcast live by the state broadcaster, rescue teams were preparing to take off from the Bufarik military airport, 40 kilometers from the capital, after the Moroccan Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, announced that Rabat had rejected the offer.
Despite Algiers’ insistence, Rabat informed the Algerian side that its country “does not need help.”
“The Algerian Government takes note of the official Moroccan response, from which it draws obvious conclusions,” Algiers stressed.
Algeria and Morocco, whose land borders have been closed since 1994, have had a difficult diplomatic relationship for decades over the Western Sahara issue.
In the summer of 2021, Algiers cut diplomatic relations with Rabat and closed its airspace, which it reopened last Saturday to allow humanitarian flights to and from the neighboring country.
To Libya, the Algerian Presidency indicated this Tuesday, Algiers sent eight military planes with humanitarian aid, in order to alleviate the devastating effects caused by Cyclone Daniel, which hit the northeast of the country on Sunday, killing more than 2,300 people and leaving around 10 thousand missing.
In a statement, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune indicated that he had given instructions, in response to a request for help from the President of the Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Manfi, to send “emergency” humanitarian aid, consisting of food, medical supplies , clothing and tents.
“This aid expresses the commitment of Algeria, the Government and the people, in unconditional and unlimited solidarity with the brother people of Libya, to help them overcome this painful test,” declared Tebboune.
Al-Manfi declared several provinces in the northeastern region of Cyrenaica as “disaster zones” and called on the international community to provide humanitarian aid, especially to the most affected city of Derna.
Derna, a coastal town located 250 kilometers northeast of Benghazi and a similar distance from the border with Egypt, is the fourth most populated city in Libya and had around 120,000 inhabitants at the time of the natural disaster.
Currently the city is isolated due to the destruction of roads and bridges caused by torrential rains, without electricity and without communications.
Source: TSF
