Three Algerian truckers on their way to Mauritania perished in an attack by the Moroccan army in Western Sahara. The victims, who were on their way to Mauritania, were reportedly targeted by a missile when their vehicles were stationary. The Algerian and Moroccan authorities have not reacted to this affair.
Media reports in Algeria and Mauritania have reported the death of three Algerian civilians, targeted, Monday, November 1, 2021, by a Moroccan drone. The victims, from the cities of Laghouat and Ouargla, according to the Menadefense site (which for its part refers to artillery fire), died during the impact of an air-to-surface missile.
Contacted by Sputnik, a Saharawi source close to the Polisario Front indicated that the truckers were at a standstill at the time of the attack in an area located between the town of Bir Lahlou, in the territory of Western Sahara governed by the Polisario Front, and that of Aïn Ben Tili in Mauritanian territory.
“The three victims had taken the road which leads from Tindouf, in Algeria, to Zouérat. It seems that they deviated from their route and found themselves halfway between Bir Lahlou and Aïn Ben Tili, which are distant from everything. just 30 kilometers. You have to understand that there are no asphalt roads that connect the towns in the region, the truckers take tracks in the middle of the desert, so it is possible that they entered Saharawi territory. we know is that they were at a standstill when the missile hit their trucks. They certainly had to pause before resuming their journey,” said our source, who requested anonymity.
Until 4 p.m. GMT on Tuesday, November 2, Algeria and Morocco had not reacted. The only official reaction is to blame Mauritania which denied, Tuesday, November 2, that the attack on Algerian trucks took place on its own territory.
“Since yesterday, several sites and media platforms have circulated the news that Algerian trucks have been attacked in the north of the country. In order to enlighten public opinion and correct the information disseminated, the Directorate of Communication and Relations public, commanded by the general staff of the armies, denies the occurrence of an attack inside the national territory”, indicated the Mauritanian army in a press release.
Since the resumption of the armed conflict in Western Sahara on November 13, 2020, several attacks targeting civilians, all attributed to the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), have been reported in different areas of the Saharawi territories administered by the Polisario Front.
A projectile recently destroyed the trailer of a truck on the border of Mauritania and Western Sahara driven by an Algerian driver. The latter escaped unharmed. The last 12 months have especially been marked by the Moroccan strike against a Saharawi military convoy which caused the death of Addah Al-Bendir, the commander of the Saharawi national gendarmerie during an air raid in April 2021. According to some observers, Morocco would have used an attack drone during this operation. Information that has never been confirmed by the Moroccan army.
It should be noted that Morocco recently acquired 13 Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 combat drones ordered under a contract signed in 2019. In the summer of 2021, the US Congress decided to block the sale of precision drones MQ-9B Skyguardian in FAR, against the backdrop of escalations in Western Sahara. Washington had planned to deliver four aircraft as well as a batch of missiles.
