The Spanish Foreign Ministry received information suggesting that terrorist attacks linked to the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) may take place in southwestern Algeria and target Spanish nationals visiting refugee camps there, El Pais newspaper reported on Thursday, citing sources
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2019) The Spanish Foreign Ministry received information suggesting that terrorist attacks linked to the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) may take place in southwestern Algeria and target Spanish nationals visiting refugee camps there, El Pais newspaper reported on Thursday, citing sources.According to the Spanish newspaper, the attacks might occur in refugee camps located near the southern Algerian city of Tindouf. Intelligence services are reportedly speculating that the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) terrorist group could carry out the attack.
El Pais cited government sources as saying that "the threat is real" and that the intelligence services had warned of a possible attack on refugee camps and, in particular, on Spanish citizens who were visiting.
More than 100 Spaniards from various non-governmental organizations work in the refugee camps in Algeria. Moreover, Spanish families volunteer in these camps as part of the Vacaciones en Paz (Holidays in Peace) program.
On Wednesday, the Spanish Foreign Ministry issued an advisory saying that citizens should not travel to the area due to increased terrorist activity and growing instability in northern Mali. Tindouf is located close to the Malian and Mauritanian borders.
In particular, the ministry recommended "traveling with extreme caution" in Algeria and avoiding the refugee camps, as well as border areas along Mali, Niger, Libya and Mauritania.
The refugee camps in Algeria's Tindouf host the desert's indigenous Sahrawi people. The Sahrawi refugees have been living under harsh conditions in the Sahara Desert in southwestern Algeria for more than 40 years and have relied mostly on the United Nations' and more recently on the European Union's assistance to meet their food needs.
The Western Sahara is a disputed territory, partially claimed by Morocco and the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
