Algeria says it has foiled a sabotage plot. What it has not said is what the plotters meant to sabotage.
The 61 Moroccans arrested in Algeria were detained in Oran in early October, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) announced on Sunday.
In a statement relayed by AFP, the police directorate said the group was
“preparing to commit acts of sabotage undermining security and public order”.
One of the suspects, it added, is a former soldier in the Moroccan army. Police also say they seized Moroccan passports and cash in dirhams and euros. The amount has been made public.
The route taken by the Moroccans arrested in Algeria is the most detailed part of the account. According to the DGSN, the group flew into Tunis and slipped across the border by mountain and forest tracks near El Kala, in the far north-east. They then travelled overland to Oran, in the west.
The journey took the group from Algeria’s north-eastern border region to Oran in the west, according to the police account. Authorities say they intercepted the suspects at the end of that journey.
The suspects have been brought before the prosecutor at Oran’s specialised criminal division, the DGSN said.
What the statement leaves out matters as much. As AFP noted, it offered no details of the alleged plots. For now, no publicly disclosed evidence links this 61 Moroccans arrested in Algeria to a named target, a specific piece of equipment or a planned date.
Oran has seen another large-scale arrest involving Moroccan nationals. In May, police announced 77 arrests, including 67 Moroccans detained as irregular migrants. They itemised the seized property: 1,400 euros, 1,080 dirhams, two pairs of binoculars and ten vehicles.
The May arrests were announced in connection with irregular migration. The latest case carries a different allegation, with Algerian police now accusing the group of preparing acts of sabotage.
July brought another case. Algeria’s Defence Ministry said it had dismantled a six-member group in Tizi Ouzou with alleged links to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie, which Algiers classes as a terrorist organisation. Four of the six, it said, were Moroccans living in the country illegally.
The ministry accused the group of trying to disrupt the 2 July legislative elections. Hespress reported that it did not name the suspects, offer evidence or say whether charges had been filed.
The wider quarrel is older and deeper. Algeria cut diplomatic ties with Morocco on 24 August 2021, citing hostile acts. The land border has been shut since 1994. In September 2024, Algiers introduced visa requirements for Moroccans, pointing to alleged espionage and drug and human trafficking.
Western Sahara sits underneath all of it. Morocco controls most of the territory, while Algeria backs the Polisario Front and its demand for self-determination.
In October 2025, the UN Security Council backed Morocco’s autonomy plan as a basis for talks. The vote was 11 in favour, none against and three abstentions. Algeria refused to take part.
That is the ground on which every announcement about Moroccans arrested in Algeria now lands.
No official response from Rabat had been reported by Monday morning. Morocco called the 2021 rupture unjustified and has repeatedly urged dialogue.
Two readings remain open. One is a genuine security operation. The other is a signal in a long diplomatic fight. Only evidence put before a court can settle which.
Until then, what the public has on the Moroccans arrested in Algeria is a police statement and little else.
With diplomatic ties cut, Algiers and Rabat now speak mostly through such statements. The Moroccans arrested in Algeria are caught inside that exchange, and so far only one side has spoken.
