The Algerian security services arrested a number of retired army’s coordination representatives on Wednesday, as they tried to organize a protest outside the parliament building in the center of the Algerian capital.
The police forces surrounded the former military personnel and forcibly took them to nearby centres, including a number of those who had lost their limbs in previous military and counterterrorism operations when they were in the military service.
The army's retirees ask the government to meet a number of social demands, most notably a review of the pension and unification of the disability grant, as some of them are living with a grant of 27 000 Algerian dinars (180 US dollars) per month. Moreover, they ask for the amendment of the Military Pensions Act to benefit from the compensations forinherited diseases, the creation of a counter-terrorism grant for those who participated in the war against terrorism to enable them to benefit from all the incentives of other military groups.
Last September, the military carried out an open strike in the area of Boudouaw at the eastern entrance of the Algerian capital, during which violent confrontations were held with the gendarmes, who tried to break the strike by force, resulting in the injury of more than 270 military protesters, 40 of them were seriously injured, including seven protesters, who were shot in the eye by rubber bullets fired by the security forces.
On 29 September, the military protestors announced their voluntary withdrawal from the capital and return to their cities to avoid the worsening of the situation and to preserve the safety of the property and give the authorities time to address their social demands, but they threatened to return soon to protest, in case there was no positive development in meeting their demands.
#Algeria #assaults #retirees #wounded #army #soldiers
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