Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Tuesday dismissed the Commander of the National Gendarmerie, Major General Noureddine Gouasmia, who is replaced by General Yahya Ali-Oulhadj.
“On behalf of the President of the Republic, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the Chief of Staff of the National Army, Said Chengriha, on Tuesday supervised the inauguration ceremony of General Yahia Ali-Oulhdaj, as commander of the national gendarmerie, thus succeeding Major General Noureddine Gouasmia,” said the statement released from the Ministry of Defense.
General Oulhadj had held the commander of the 3rd Regional Command of the National Gendarmerie in Béchar, on the border with Morocco since August 2020.
On August 4, 2020, the Algerian President had appointed Gouasmia to the post of Commander of the National Gendarmerie Forces.
The national gendarmerie in Algeria is a force affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, but it takes over certain police tasks outside the cities and also has a department specializing in security investigations into corruption and various crimes, under the supervision of the judiciary.
“The plots and conspiracies being hatched against Algeria and the schemes fomented against its people are not the fruit of the imagination,” Chengriha said without providing further details in the ceremony.
“This is a reality that has become evident to everyone. The rabid and targeted campaign orchestrated against our country and its military on foreign media platforms and social networks are only an important part of this declared war on Algeria,” he added.
Since coming to power in December 2019, Tebboune has made several changes in military leadership, including land forces, the administration of the Directorate of Internal Security in Intelligence, and the Director of Military Justice.
