Algerian media’s fake news has no limits

Algerian media continues to speak of an imaginary war in the Moroccan Sahara. A pro-army media, El Bilad, did not bother to check the map when it spoke of Larache, Assilah and Fnideq as cities nearby the Saraha.

While recycling a Polisario statement, El Bilad claimed that fierce battles are going on and that wounded Moroccan soldiers were sent to the three cities of Larache, Assilah and Fnideq because they are the closest to the Sahara region! Sic!

The army mouthpiece did not even bother to check the map to see that the three cities are in fact in the extreme north-west of the country.

Speaking of a war and reciting statements of the Polisario separatists without fact-checking has been a common practice by Algerian media which resorts to imagination when it cannot corroborate its reporting.

In fact, fake news is a practice espoused by state-owned media like the official Algerian TV channel which recently made a set up to portray firing in the sky claiming exclusivity of a war in the Sahara.

The recent diplomatic victories by Morocco has plunged Algerian media and pro-army analysts into a state of frenzy which led them to reveal the real role of Algiers as the genuine party in the Sahara dispute.

After they were compelled to leave the Guerguarat crossing on the sound of the Moroccan boots, the Polisario has been using a language reminiscent of that of gangs publishing daily statements speaking of fictional victories, where in fact the reality hasn’t budget.

One might wonder, if Polisario as it claims is bombarding day and night and making inroads why they fail to show images and footage of their gains? The answer is that there are no gains. The Polisario and Algerian propaganda will soon backfire. Propaganda is a short-term tactic designed to the domestic Algerian front and the disenchanted people held in the camp of Tindouf.

So far, Morocco is adopting total indifference to Polisario- Algerian lies. Moroccan TV channels show that traffic has peacefully resumed on the Guerguarat strip as well as business as usual in villages near the berm.

The Moroccan armed forces issued two statements. The first on November 13 to say that they started clearing the road in line with clear rules of engagement of avoiding civilians and restricting the use of arms to self-defense, and the second the same day to say that the Guerguarat road has been secured.