Algeria Opens Airspace to Morocco Quake Aid Flights

Algeria will allow aircraft carrying humanitarian aid to quake-hit Moroto pass through its airspace, the president's office announced Saturday, suspending a two-year ban on flights to its regional rival. A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck a mountainarea southwest of the Moroccan trourist hotspot of Marrakesh late Friday, killing more than 1,000 people, injuring at least 1,200 others and causing widespread damage.

Algerian authorities "have decided to open the airspace to flights transporting humanitarian aid and injured" from the quake, the president's office said in a statement. 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".