ALGIERS, Algeria — Earlier this month, the Algerian military said it was engaged in a sustained manhunt against terrorist elements that infiltrated Algerian territory across the desert in the regions of Tamanrasset, the capital of the Tuareg tribes, and in the nearby tourist town of Janet, which is close to the border with Libya.

Algeria’s military reported that the operation killed 10 “terrorists,” according to the latest toll, and revealed in the same context that it uncovered a hiding place under the sand holding a large cache of military hardware near the town of Janet.

In a statement issued May 6, the Algerian Ministry of Defense said: “A quality operation was carried out by a joint contingent of troops from the People’s National Army on the border strip in the area of Taoundart, 80 kilometers [50 miles] west of Tinzaouatin, in the state of Tamanrasset in the province of the sixth military region. [The army], on May 5, 2014, was able to eliminate nine terrorists. The toll then rose to 10 terrorists killed, and the seizure of 12 automatic Kalashnikov rifles, one RPG-7 launcher, one hunting rifle, one GP58 grenade launcher, 11 RPG-7 rockets, 13 hand grenades, three boxes filled with FM ammunition, one box filled with ammunition for a 12.7 mm machine gun, four anti-tank mines, 20 loaded ammunition magazines for Kalashnikov rifles, five mobile phones, one GPS navigation system, one solar energy plate, one laptop, three four-wheel drive vehicles and two motorcycles. The operation is still ongoing.”

The quality and quantity of the arms seized point to what has become commonly available to jihadist groups in the Sahel region, especially after the fall of former Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi’s regime three years ago and the subsequent spread of weapons beyond the control of governments in the region.