Algeria discovers large quantities of weapons near border with Mali

ALGIERS, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Algerian army on Sunday discovered a large quantity of weapons in the southernmost district of Bordj Badji Mokhtar bordering Mali, the defense ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The hideout contained "an FMPK machine gun, a Kalashnikov-type machine gun, two semi-automatic Simonov rifles, two repeating rifles, 1,927 balls of different calibers as well as 20 kilograms of drugs," the ministry said.

At a meeting on fighting terrorism held in the capital Algiers last week, Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel said terrorists have raised huge sums of money from trafficking drugs and arms through cooperation with trans-border organized crime gangs, and used the money to recruit new elements.