The king of Morocco on Monday warned of any threat to the security of his country after theHIM-HER-IT confirmed exchanges of fire between Moroccan troops and separatists of the Polisario Front in Western Sahara, calling for the ” detention “.
After thirty years of ceasefire, the Polisario Front declared on Friday “State of war” in reaction to an operation by the Moroccan army in a buffer zone in the far south of Western Sahara to restore road traffic cut off by Sahrawi separatists at the Guerguerat border post.
In a press release published Monday evening, the Saharawi Defense Ministry affirmed that the Polisario forces carried out “Massive attacks” against the Moroccan defense wall dividing the disputed desert territory over 2,700 km.
The independence movement reports “Shooting and shelling” targeting the sectors of Amlaga, Haouza, Al Farcia, in the north of the territory, and the sectors of Baggari and Oum Dreyga, in the center. These claims could not be verified by independent sources.
For his part, the King of Morocco said on Monday that he remained committed to the ceasefire but “Remains firmly determined to react, with the utmost severity, and in self-defense, against any threat to (security)” from his country.
Mohammed VI issued the warning, which implicitly includes the area controlled by Rabat, in a telephone interview Monday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to an official statement.
“Illegal occupation”
For the Polisario, the Moroccan intervention in Guerguerat sounded the death knell for the ceasefire signed under the aegis of the UN after 15 years of fighting. “The end of the war is now linked to the end of the illegal occupation” of the part under Moroccan control, declared Monday to Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, a representative of the Polisario.
The cessation of hostilities also depends on the full and complete application of the 1991 agreement, which provides for the organization of a self-determination referendum that has never been implemented, he warned.
Unusually, the official Moroccan agency MAP resumed Sunday evening information from an unofficial site dedicated to the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) to announce exchanges of fire along the defense wall, without giving a precise location.
According to the forum “FAR-Morocco”, the Polisario carried out “Harassing shots along the defense line without causing damage” and the Moroccan army has “Retaliated”, occasioning “The destruction of a weapon bearing arms east of the defense line”, near Mahbès, near the Algerian border.
The UN Peace Mission (Minurso) “Received information from both sides about shooting at different locations during the night”, a UN spokesperson said Monday during a press briefing in New York.
The Minurso “Continues to urge the parties to restraint and to take all necessary measures to reduce the tension”, he added.
With the information war being waged by the two camps on social networks, it is very difficult to know what is happening precisely in this geographically isolated desert territory.
Access to the Algerian border area is complicated by the suspension of domestic flights linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. On the Moroccan side, Rabat does not normally allow journalists to move freely in the territory under its control.
Minurso is also facing access problems in the field and has limited its movements in recent months, now basing most of its observations on satellite images, according to the Secretary General’s latest annual report to the Security Council of the UN.
“Realistic solution”
It is “Extremely difficult to verify the reality of the information disseminated from one side or the other”, underlined this report which was also concerned about the “Growing and unpredictable threat” on his staff facing “The multiplication of drug traffickers and other criminal elements” but also “At the risk of an attack”.
On Monday, Mohammed VI assured Mr. Guterres that his country “Will continue to support its efforts in the political process […] allowing a realistic and achievable solution within the framework of the sovereignty of the Kingdom ”.
Morocco controls three quarters of the territory of 266,000 km2 and considers the western strip, rich in phosphate and fish-bearing waters, as its own.
Rabat, which wants autonomy under its sovereignty, recently welcomed the latest Security Council resolution “Contains no reference to the referendum, although it refers six times to the political solution”.
The negotiations involving Morocco, the Polisario, theAlgeria and the Mauritania have stalled since 2019.
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