Algeria builds 50km electric fence across border with Mali

Algeria builds 50km electric fence across border with Mali The Algerian army has started building a 50km-long electric fence across the country\'s borders with Mali to help preventing the trafficking of arms and fighters infiltration through the borders, Algerian security sources revealed.
The sources said that the new fence is expected to block all the loopholes through which the Islamist fighters were moving across the borderline.
Several clashes took place in the last few months between Algerian army patrols and Islamist militants who were going in and out of the Algerian territories near the county\'s southern border with North Mali, where Islamist groups took over months ago.
The building of the reported fence comes after heavy deployment of armed forces and exploratory air flights across the area in an attempt to prevent terrorist activities.
Some local observers believe that this fence may be meant to prevent heavy influx of Malian refugees into the Algerian desert if a western-backed military offence is to be carried out against the Islamist groups of North Mali, which seems likely to happen.
In the same context, security sources told Arabstoday that an army patrol has dismantled three landmines which were put on the road between the towns of Khalil and Baji Mokhtar to cripple the army raids on the Islamist militants.