Generals in Algeria fired without an explanation

Heads have been rolling in the Algerian army, the North African nation’s most respected institution, and in other security services, with generals in top posts fired — without explanation — at a rate never before seen.

The wave of changes began with the firing June 26 of Gen Abdul Gani Hamel, head of the General Directorate of National Security, the top echelon of Algeria’s police. Along with Hamel went the men he had placed in more than a half-dozen top regional police posts, from Algiers, the capital, to Setif, in the east — as well as the commander in charge of Algiers’ international airport.

The most recent to be axed were the Air Force commander and the head of the Air Defence Force, announced last week by the Defence Ministry.

The ousting of Hamel, who had held the top police post since 2010, may be linked to the May seizure by the Coast Guard in the port of Oran of 701kg of cocaine hidden among frozen meat on a cargo ship from Brazil.