Mauritanian president loses his main bodyguard in Algeria visit

Mauritanian president returned from a short visit to Algeria without his main bodyguard who was reported dead in a suspicious incident.

While Algerian pro-regime media speak of a car accident, Mauritanian media says the President’s convoy was attacked in Tindouf area by armed men loyal to a Mauritanian dissident based in Algeria.

Videos on twitter showed the moment a military aircraft brought the body of the bodyguard, Mohamed Ould Chibani, to Nouakchott. Another bodyguard was reported injured in the incident.

The bodyguard lost his life on the way back of the convoy from the inauguration of a border crossing in the area of Tindouf between Algeria and Mauritania.

The Algerian president said his country will build a road connecting Tindouf to Zouirate in Mauritania.

In public comments, Tebboune said his country would open its market to Mauritanian goods customs free, but said that so far Algeria does not have capacity to export vital foodstuff such as cooking oil and sugar.

The Tindouf-Zouerate road has been put off for decades due to the degradation of security conditions in the area where terrorist groups make laws and engage in all sorts of trafficking.

The reported incident comes following warnings by the US to its citizens to avoid Tindouf and southern Algeria in general for fear of terrorist activity.

Spain, the UK, and France also warned their citizens to avoid Algeria’s southern borders, where terrorists seek a safe haven as they are being chased from the Sahel.