Law enforcement in Algeria

Authority and management of civil law and order in Algeria is shared by the Sûreté Nationale, or Directorate General for National Security (DGSN), the civilian police force, under the Ministry of Interior, and the Gendarmerie Nationale under the Ministry of National Defence.^[1]

The Sûreté Nationale is primarily responsible for cities and large urban areas, performing routine policing duties in upholding Algerian law. Alternatively, The National Gendarmerie's primary function is to maintain law and order and dispense police services to rural areas.^[1]

There are also 94,000 Municipal Guards whose primary duty is to protect the villages and act as an auxiliary force of the law enforcement. During the Algerian Civil War, the Guards were the primary targets of the terrorists (Armed opposition), with 4,000 Guards killed in action since 1994.^[2]

Algerian law enforcement plays a notable role under service of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, both acting as an internal security force for the country. Under the regulation of the government, all types of law enforcement within Algeria have primary objectives in upholding law and order, territorial integrity, internal security and regional security for the nation.^[3] Algeria's various security forces have been involved in counter-terrorism operations and have been accused of breaches of Human rights and excesses in the battle against Islamist groups. They also face complaints of harassing journalists.^[2]