Morocco has reportedly launched a military operation in the disputed Western Sahara to clear road it said the supporters of pro-independence Polisario Front blockaded for more than three weeks. Abdelkader Omar (Polisario’s ambassador to Algeria) accused Moroccan military of shooting at innocent protesters (Sahrawi people), which made the Polisario fighters to come to the defense of protesters and this led to clashes between Moroccan military and Polisario forces on Friday. Abdelkader Omar also called on the United Nations to intervene. The General Staff of the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces said on Friday that Moroccan military has set up a security cordon in the Guerguerat buffer zone on Western Sahara’s southern border with Mauritania in order to secure the flow of goods and people. Our correspondent learned that Ibrahim Ghali (Polisario chief) has sent an urgent letter to the United Nations secretary general and U.N. Security Council for their intervention. In 1975, Morocco annexed Western Sahara (a former Spanish colony), the Polisario Front fought for independence and in 1991, United Nations brokered a cease fire and established a peacekeeping mission (MINURSO) to monitor the truce. The Polisario Front allegedly said that it would reconsider its engagement in the United Nations led political process. It also threatened to withdraw from the cease-fire if any Moroccan whether civilian or military enters the buffer zone.
Source: Viewers Corner News.