Sahrawi People’s Liberation Army Increase Attacks on Moroccan Armed Forces

The Sahrawi People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has conducted a series of bombardment attacks on the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. Today's attack took place in the Mahbes sector, a UN-monitored buffer zone near the Algerian border. According to the SPLA press service, "advanced detachments of Sahrawi People's Liberation Army fighters targeted a support center for enemy lines, resulting in heavy losses in lives and equipment." The Moroccan armed forces has yet to release a statement on the incident..What You Need to Know.Last Saturday, members of the Sahrawi advanced detachments targeted Moroccan military bases in Mahbes, causing "significant losses among the ranks of the enemy entrenched in the burrows of the wall and humiliation and shame.".Referring to the Moroccan Western Sahara Wall, the 'Berm', which is also known as the 'Sand Wall', is a 1,700-mile defensive fortification that separates Moroccan-controlled regions of the Western Sahara–known as Morocco's 'southern provinces'–from those controlled by the SPLA–known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The 'Wall' is comprised of a series of barriers, whose construction began in the early 1980s..In addition to the wall is the presence of approximately 9 million landmines, planted during the region's various conflict periods, which began in 1973 as the Polisario Front–synonymous with the SPLA– waged a guerrilla insurgency against Spanish forces who administered the area. Conflict flared again in 1975 as the Polisario went to war against Morocco and Mauritania for the independence of the region. The current conflict is waged between the SPLA/Polisario and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, with tensions rising in recent weeks as France announced its support for the 'Western Sahara autonomy plan'–which seeks to establish a level of autonomy for the SADR, albeit under Moroccan sovereignty..The United Nations entered the region as the 1975 conflict was brought to a close on-paper in 1991. Since then, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has sought to create an environment conducive to the holding of a referendum to decide between independence and integration with Morocco. The referendum roadmap has hit various speedbumps as both the Polisario Front and the Moroccan government appear unwilling to meaningfully partake in negotiations..According to an October 2023 MINURSO report, "the situation in Western Sahara continued to be characterized by tensions and low-intensity hostilities.".These low-intensity hostilities come as the result of the collapse of the 1991 ceasefire in November 2020. The Polisario announced their resumption of hostilities against the Moroccan government due to its forceful removals of Sahrawi protestors who had blocked a road leading into Mauritania..And while the Sand Wall prevents large cross-territory raids from taking place, the Polisario continue to conduct artillery strikes on the Moroccan forces, with strikes targeting Moroccan forces in Mahbes on July 11th, August 3rd, in Ajbeilate Al-Khder region on August 10th, and in Mahbes again today, August 12th..This low-intensity conflict has also created a diplomatic rift between international stakeholders, specifically Algeria–who is a key supporter of the SADR—and France, who expressed its willingness to financially support Morocco's autonomy plan in late July..As a result, Algeria recalled its Ambassador from the European nation, expressing its "deep disapproval" of the French decision..In addition to the French support for Morocco's presence in the area is the United States, who recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the area in 2020 as a 'carrot' for the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel..So, What Now?.Referred to as 'decolonisation's last stand', the Western Saharan conflict illustrates the will of the Sahrawi's–which translates to 'inhabitants of the desert'–to fight for an independent territory. And despite the nearly 50-year conflict showing no sign of an end, the Sahrawi's must be given credit for the hardships they have endured under Moroccan administration..According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and journalists from the Pulitzer Center, the Moroccan government has for years undertaken a campaign of repression against the Sahrawis and human rights activists.."On 18 April 2023, law enforcement officers arbitrarily detained for 90 minutes Abd El Tawab El Terkzi in Laayoune after he appeared in a video of a Spanish tourist saying that he was a proud Sahrawi and favored the self-determination of his people. The officers tortured and otherwise ill-treated him by cuffing and hooding him, slapping his face, spitting on him, and threatening to rape him and kill him using acid," said HRW..Moreover, according to the Pulitzer Center, on November 8, 2021, a Sahrawi human rights activist by the name of Sultana Khaya, who was at that point already a year into her house arrest, was injected with an unknown substance by plainclothes officers who raided her home. She later fled to the Spanish Canary Islands, an action which the Moroccan authorities did not attempt to stop her from taking.."A year into Khaya's house arrest, on Nov. 8, 2021, Moroccan security agents in plainclothes again raided her home. She said one officer injected her right hip with an unknown substance. Another said to her, "Now you will be sick. You will be unable to protest." She said the injection made her dizzy, caused her to vomit, and that it caused her to lose feeling and movement in her right arm and leg. Seven months later, in late May 2022, she decided to try and escape house arrest and go into exile. Security officers trailed her from her home in Boujdour to Laayoune, the territory's largest city and unofficial capital. But when she went to board a flight to Spain's Canary Islands, off the Saharan coast, authorities did not prevent her from leaving," the Center said..Despite the evidence from various journalistic authorities and rights groups, Morocco has thus far avoided any real condemnation of its actions, which may be in part due to larger geopolitical considerations such as the US desire for Morocco to normalize relations with its long-time ally Israel.