Rabat | The Moroccan army “responded to harassing shots carried out by Polisario militiamen along the defense line” separating the two camps in Western Sahara, a disputed territory under tension for several days, according to the Moroccan agency MAP, which quotes an unofficial military forum.
“Since November 13, 2020, the Polisario militiamen have carried out harassment shots along the defense line without causing damage, neither human nor material” at the level of the locality of El Mahbes (north), indicates the MAP in citing the Facebook page of the “FAR-Morocco Forum”, the royal armed forces.
During this “response”, the Moroccan army caused “the destruction of a weapon bearing arms east of the defense line”, according to the forum.
The independence movement supported by Algeria spoke on Sunday of “fighting continuing crescendo” along the Moroccan defense wall of 2700 km which cuts the Western Sahara. The Polisario also ensures to mobilize “thousands of volunteers”.
The desert region is very difficult to access due to its geographical location. On the Moroccan side, Rabat does not let journalists move freely, even in normal times.
It is therefore extremely difficult to verify the reality of the information disseminated from one side or the other.
The Polisario Front declared a “state of war” on Friday, after an operation by the Moroccan army in a buffer zone in the extreme south of Western Sahara to restore road traffic on the only road leading to Mauritania, at the level from the Guerguerat border post.
For the Polisario, this intervention signaled the end of the ceasefire signed in 1991 under the aegis of the UN, after fifteen years of combat. The Moroccans say they are attached to the ceasefire. The situation of the only territory of the African continent whose postcolonial status has not been resolved is causing concern for the UN, the EU and several countries.
Morocco controls two thirds of the desert area of 266,000 km2 and considers the western strip as an integral part of the kingdom. Supported by Algeria, the Polisario controls the other third.
Rabat proposes autonomy under its sovereignty while the Polisario demands a self-determination referendum provided for by the 1991 agreement but never implemented.
Negotiations involving Morocco, the Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania have stalled since 2019.