Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Saturday appointed a new second-in-command of the armed forces, a release from the royal palace announced, amid tensions with neighbor Algeria over Western Sahara.

Under the North African country's constitution, the King himself commands the armed forces.

His new number two is Inspector General Mohammed Berid who replaces General Belkhir El Farouk, the announcement carried by the official MAP news agency indicated.

No reason for the change was given.

However, at the handover, Farouk, 75, appeared in a wheelchair. Berid, his successor, is around seven years younger and was in charge of the zone that includes disputed Western Sahara.

🇲🇦 | Sa Majesté le Roi Mohammed VI que Dieu l’assiste, décore le général Belkhir El Farouk du Wissam Al Arch, et nomme Mohammed Berrid à la tête des FAR, commandant la zone sud. pic.twitter.com/9Pn91FUSsC

— Izem Anass (@Izemanass) April 22, 2023

According to the website Global Firepower, Morocco has about 310,000 regular soldiers and 150,000 reservists.

Saturday's change comes during months of heightened tensions with Algeria after the collapse of a decades-old ceasefire in Western Sahara and Morocco's normalization of ties with the Israeli occupation in late 2020.

Algeria closed its airspace to all Moroccan flights in September 2021, the month after it cut off diplomatic ties with its neighbor, accusing it of "hostile acts".

The Algiers-backed Polisario Front seeks independence for the Western Sahara which Rabat claims is Moroccan territory.

In a related context, the United States has just approved the sale of 18 HIMARS precision rocket systems to Morocco.

Read more: Morocco reopens embassy in Iraq after 18-year closure