ALGIERS: Algerian authorities announced on Sunday that they had arrested 61 Moroccan nationals earlier this month on suspicion of planning “acts of sabotage.” In a statement carried by public media, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) referred to “an international Moroccan criminal network” but did not provide details of the alleged plots. The 61 people, including a former soldier in the Moroccan army, “were preparing to commit acts of sabotage undermining security and public order,” the DGSN said. It added that the suspects had entered Algeria via mountain trails from neighboring Tunisia. Relations between Algeria and Morocco have been strained for years, and their shared land border has been closed since 1994. In 2021, Algiers decided to sever diplomatic relations. The two countries have long been at odds over the issue of Western Sahara. The mineral-rich former Spanish colony has been largely controlled by Morocco since 1975, and is considered a non-self-governing territory by the United Nations. Rabat regards Western Sahara as an integral part of its territory, while Algiers supports the territory’s pro-independence Polisario Front and its demands for self-determination.