Algerian security members patrol in Tamanrasset desert, 2,000 kilometers south of Algiers on July 2, 2018. The top ranks of the powerful Algerian military have been reshuffled at the direction of the army's chief of staff.
A series of shake-ups has upended the leadership of Algeria's powerful security apparatus, with personnel reshuffles affecting the upper echelons of the country's military, police and security forces. The extent of and motives behind the ousters, unprecedented during the 19-year administration of President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika, remain unclear, but their nature and timing give some indications of the intent behind them. Algeria's inner political workings remain opaque, making it difficult to know what exactly is unfolding in Algiers. But some of the details associated with the spate of military reorganizations point to a mutual effort by the army and the presidency to retain control. The leadership changes began in earnest in June, when Abdelghani Hamel, the head of the Algerian national police force, was fired after a joint military and police operation resulted in the seizure of a massive shipment of illicit drugs off the Algerian coast.
