Algeria’s president’s office stated Saturday that aircraft providing humanitarian aid to earthquake-ravaged Morocco will be allowed to fly via its airspace, lifting a two-year ban on flights to its regional competitor.
A 6.8-magnitude earthquake rocked a hilly area southwest of the Moroccan tourist hub of Marrakesh late Friday, killing over 1,000 people and injuring at least 1,200 more.
Algerian officials “have decided to open the airspace to flights transporting humanitarian aid and injured” from the earthquake, according to a statement from the president’s office.
Algeria closed its airspace to all Moroccan aircraft in September, 2021 after having cut diplomatic ties with its longtime foe.
Despite the rivalry between the North African neighbours, Algerian authorities were “fully prepared to provide humanitarian aid and mobilise all material and human resources in solidarity with the brotherly Moroccan people upon request from the Kingdom of Morocco”, the statement said.
In an earlier statement, the Algerian foreign ministry offered the nation’s “sincere condolences to the brotherly Moroccan people for the victims of the earthquake”.