Algeria Accuses Morocco of Involvement in its Deadly Fires, to "Review" Relations

Algeria's President Tebboune meeting officials in Algiers on Wednesday 18, August over forest fires in his country

Algeria has decided to "review" its relations with Morocco, accused of being involved in the deadly fires that ravaged the north of the country, according to a statement from the Algerian presidency.

"The incessant hostile acts perpetrated by Morocco against Algeria, have necessitated the review of relations between the two countries and the intensification of security controls at the western borders," said the statement, without further clarification.

This decision was taken during an extraordinary meeting of the Algerian High Security Council, chaired by the Head of State Abdelmadjid Tebboune and devoted to the assessment of the situation after the huge forest fires that have killed at least 90 people in the north of the country.

President Tebboune said that most of the fires were of "criminal" origin.

Algerian officials accused a Paris-based Kabyle independence organization of being involved in the fires and in the lynching of a man wrongly accused of arson in the northeastern region of Kabylia, the region most affected by the fires.

They also implicated the London-based Islamo-conservative Rashad movement.

These two movements, the bête noires of the Algerian government, are illegal in Algeria where they were classified as "terrorist organizations" on May 18.