Algeria and Morocco: The Conflict on Europe’s Doorstep

 

For decades, the relationship between Morocco and Algeria has been characterized by tension, indirect attacks and the support of proxies. The Algerians back the Polisario Front, an armed group that fought Morocco for control of Western Sahara from 1975 to 1991. Morocco is in charge of most of the territory and considers it to be its own, but the Polisario wants independence. The Moroccans are accused of supporting groups that Algeria recently designated as terrorists. These include the Islamist Rachad and the Amazigh separatist Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK).