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Western Saharan clashes (2020–present)

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Clashes between military forces belonging to the Kingdom of Morocco and the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), represented at the United Nations by the Polisario Front, broke out in the disputed region of Western Sahara in November 2020. It was the latest escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, which is largely occupied by Morocco, but 20–25% is administered by the SADR.[8] The violence ended a ceasefire between the opposing sides that had held for 29 years in anticipation of a referendum of self-determination that would have settled the dispute. Despite the establishment of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara in 1991, the referendum was never held.

2020–2024 Western Saharan clashes
Part of the Western Sahara conflict

Map of the Western Sahara; location of Guerguerat, where the clashes began, is marked with a red circle.
Date13 November 2020 (2020-11-13) – present
(4 years, 1 week and 5 days)
Location
Moroccan Western Sahara Wall (Berm)
21°25′34″N 16°57′31″W / 21.42611°N 16.95861°W / 21.42611; -16.95861
Status Ongoing
Territorial
changes		 Morocco secures Guerguerat border crossing[1]
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Morocco  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Commanders and leaders
Units involved
Royal Moroccan Armed Forces Sahrawi People's Liberation Army
Casualties and losses
At least 6 soldiers killed[2][3][1][a] At least 12 soldiers killed[5]
66 killed overall (as of July 2023)[6][7][needs update]
  1. ^ Number of victims according to the International Crisis Group during the first week of combat. The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara has decided, at present, not to share information on the victims or the injured, according to its spokesperson.[4]

Tensions between Morocco and the Polisario Front deepened in mid-October 2020 when Sahrawi peaceful protesters blocked a controversial road connecting Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara to sub-Saharan Africa. The protesters camped on the road near the small village of Guerguerat, where it passes through a 5-kilometre-wide buffer strip monitored by the UN. Despite the controversy, the route had grown in economic importance,[9] such that the protest stranded about 200 Moroccan truck drivers on the Mauritanian side of the border.[10] According to the MINURSO, both Morocco and Polisario deployed forces near the area in late October,[11] with Mauritanian forces reinforcing their positions along its border with Western Sahara.[12]

On 13 November, Morocco launched a military operation from the Berm into the demilitarized buffer strip of Western Sahara to clear the protesters near Guerguerat and restore the free movement of goods and people. The Polisario Front urged the United Nations to intervene, noting that the Moroccan military operation violated the ceasefire agreements of the 1990s, and furthermore accused the Moroccan security forces of shooting at unarmed civilians in the buffer strip.[13][14] Morocco denied there had been any armed clashes between the sides and said the truce remained in place,[15] while SADR authorities declared the ceasefire over. Clashes spread that same day along the Moroccan Berm, with Morocco claiming that it had repelled a Sahrawi incursion near Al Mahbes.[16] The SADR declared war on Morocco the next day.[17] Since the beginning of the conflict, both countries have begun mass mobilisation and the SADR Ministry of Defense claims to be carrying out daily bombardments on military objectives along the Moroccan Berm.[18][19][20] It is the first major clash in the region since 1991.[21]

Background

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Further information: Western Sahara conflict and Western Sahara War

Western Sahara War

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Moroccan walls in the territory of Western Sahara, during the Western Sahara war (1975-1991). In yellow, the territory under control by the Polisario Front

The disputed region of Western Sahara is a sparsely-populated area mostly comprising desert territories, situated in the Maghreb region of Africa's northwest coast. The region was a Spanish colony until February 1976, when the Spanish government informed the United Nations that it withdrew from the territory. Since then, the region has been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco, supported by a number of its prominent Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia and Jordan,[22] and the Saharawi Republic (SADR), an African Union member state established by the Algerian-backed pro-independence Polisario Front, which is recognized by the United Nations as the legitimate representative of the indigenous Sahrawi people.[23] Some commentators have connected Morocco's interests over the region with the idea of Greater Morocco, which encompasses Western Sahara and parts of both Mauritania, Mali, and Algeria, and according to the narrative, was divided up by the French and Spanish colonizers.[22] Morocco, claiming Tindouf and Béchar provinces, invaded Algeria in 1963, resulting in the brief Sand War, which ended in a military stalemate.[24]

 
The official United Nations map of the MINURSO peacekeeping mission shows that the border crossing at Guerguerat is not among the recognized locations to cross the Moroccan Berm.

While the Polisario Front had waged a low-intensity war of national liberation against Spanish colonial authorities since May 1973, the Western Sahara War began in October 1975, just weeks before the death of long-time Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, when Moroccan and Mauritanian forces,[25][26] aided by France,[27][28] invaded the Spanish colony. While Mauritania withdrew from Western Sahara and recognized the Saharawi Republic early in the conflict, by the end of the war Morocco had obtained control of more than two-thirds of the vast desert territory in its western part, along the Atlantic Ocean.[29] During the war, between 1980 and 1987, Morocco built six mostly sand barriers some 2,700 kilometres (1,700 mi) long,[30] and in 1988, both Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed to a UN Settlement Plan, approved by the UN Security Council on 29 April 1991, called for a referendum, which would ask the Sahrawis to choose between independence or integration into Morocco, to be organized and conducted by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).[31] After the war, on 6 September 1991, an UN-brokered ceasefire was signed,[32] promising a referendum on self-determination to the Sahrawis.[33] The United Nations has recognising the area as a non-self-governing territory since 1963; it is also the only African territory on the list, making the Western Sahara the last African territory subject to decolonization.[33][34] Despite the efforts, the planned referendum has been repeatedly delayed ever since then;[35] Morocco had refused the terms of the referendum, citing its dissatisfaction with who was allowed to vote,[36] while tens of thousands of Moroccans have emigrated to the region since the 1970s.[22]

Guerguerat Blockade

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Guerguerat border crossing in 2007.

Guerguerat is a small village located on the southern coast of the region, along the Moroccan National Route 1 leading to Mauritania, some 380 kilometres (240 mi) north of Nouakchott, in a buffer zone patrolled by MINURSO;[37] UN's envoy to the region, Horst Köhler, resigned in mid-2019 for health-related reasons.[38] The Polisario Front considers the road illegal since they say it was built in violation of the ceasefire.[39] Tensions yet again deepened between Morocco and the Polisario Front in mid-October, when unarmed Sahrawi refugees from Tindouf, Algeria (where Polisario-administered refugee camps house about 100,000 Sahrawi refugees[40]) passed through SADR-controlled territories to camp on and block the road in protest of what they called the plunder of Western Saharan resources from the Sahrawi people,[41] creating a large caravan of vehicles and blocking traffic in the region.[42] Morocco, which regards the region as vital to trade with sub-Saharan Africa,[9] accused the Polisario Front of infiltrating the buffer zone and "carrying out acts of banditry" in Guerguerat.[43] The Moroccan authorities also stated that the Polisario Front was harassing UN troops at the crossing, though the UN denied this.[33]

These protesters were later joined by a group of up to 12 Sahrawi People's Liberation Army (SPLA) fighters and 8 light vehicles, two of which had mounted heavy weapons, in violation of the ceasefire. The Polisario Front claimed they were exclusively there to protect the protesters but later removed some of the light vehicles on 29 October after being told by MINURSO withdraw from the area. At the same time, 16 Royal Moroccan Army vehicles carrying heavy-duty machinery were observed west of the berm near Guerguerat. To reduce tensions, MINURSO requested that the Moroccan army also leave the area. Despite claiming it would comply to the request, no withdrawal was observed.[11]

In early November, around 200 Moroccan truck drivers appealed to Moroccan and Mauritanian authorities for help, saying they were stranded on the Mauritanian side of the border near Guerguerat, and adding that they didn't have access to drinking water, food, shelter, or medicine, with some suffering from chronic illnesses.[10] According to Jeune Afrique, Morocco first appealed to the United Nations to resolve the conflict peacefully, and that although the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, approved this request, the situation was not resolved.[44] Guterres himself likewise said that he had launched numerous initiatives to evade an escalation in the buffer zone, but his efforts had failed.[45] On 6 November, MINURSO observed that Morocco was deploying a large force consisting of 250 vehicles near Guerguerat.[11] On 12 November, Mauritanian forces reinforced their positions along border Polisario Front-controlled territories bordering Mauritania.[12]

Course of the conflict

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Further information: Timeline of the Western Saharan clashes (2020–present)

Non-military actions taken by Morocco and the SADR

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On 13 November 2020, both Morocco and the SADR introduced mass mobilisation.[18][19] The SADR evacuated civilians from the Guerguerat area[46] and introduced a curfew in the territories under its control.[47]

Foreign weapon supplies

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Morocco

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Following the signing of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement in December 2020, Morocco has purchased advanced military equipment from Israel including at least 150 drones.[48][49] The use of these drones has been documented in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara where they have killed both SPLA fighters and civilians.[48] Israeli drones are also suspected to have been used to follow the movements of SPLA forces.[50] In October 2022, Morocco made a deal with Israel to build two factories to produce war drones with Israeli supervision and expertise. These factories, once completed, will allow Morocco to manufacture advanced drones at a low cost compared to those it had been buying from China and Turkey.[51]

Morocco reportedly used a Chinese-made Wing Loong Is, among a few given as a gift from the United Arab Emirates, to kill Addah al-Bendir, the chief of the Polisario head of the Gendarmerie, in April 2021.[52] Missile fragments examined by the Intercept indicated that Bayraktar TB2 attack drones sold by Turkey have been used on targets in Western Sahara.[49]

SADR

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Since the start of the clashes, Algeria has reiterated its support for Western Saharan independence.[53] However, Algeria has been reluctant to send the SADR any serious type of equipment. Consequently, the SADR has been compelled to rely on outdated equipment dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, given that its previous arms supplier, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in 2011. This predicament poses a challenge for the SPLA as they have to confront Moroccan forces equipped with more advanced weaponry, including drones.[54]

Despite that, Algeria still cooperates with the SADR by opening up its borders everyday to SPLA fighters armed with artillery who shoot at Moroccan positions.[48]

Reactions

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Official statements

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Domestic

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On 13 November, Sahrawi sources stated that there were mass protests in Laayoune, the unofficial capital of Western Sahara, which is de facto administered by Morocco, against the clashes.[60] The Moroccan media denied these claims, stating that the city's population was in support of the Moroccan forces, citing Laayoune's mayor.[61] Despite that, the NGO media outlet Équipe Media reported that the Moroccan government was exercising a strong police force, and had arrested several activists.[62] The next day, the same source stated that the Moroccan security forces had arrested several demonstrators in Smara.[63]

On 14 November, some Sahrawi tribal leaders issued a joint statement in support of the Moroccan intervention to restore free movement in Guerguerat.[64] More than fifty riders from the Moroccan Bikers Club and the Royal Petanque Club organized a trip from Casablanca to the Guerguerat border crossing starting on 27 December and ending on 3 January 2021 to express their support for the Moroccan army's move to secure the crossing.[65]

Sahrawi self-determination activist Sultana Khaya described Moroccan control of the Western Sahara as an occupation and called for the United States to intensify diplomatic pressure on Morocco in favor of self-determination.[66] She has been under de facto house arrest since November 2020 and subject to repeated home raids and sexual assault by Moroccan security forces, as reported by a number of international human rights organizations.[67][68][69]

International

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Supranational and regional organisations

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The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres,[70] and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, expressed their grave concern over the conflict, with Faki stating "[The] Saharan issue has gone on for a long time and it has become urgent to solve it as a case of decolonization in the first place and to support the UN efforts in this regard."[71][72] The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, stated that the EU was supporting the efforts of the United Nations to find a peaceful settlement for the conflict, per the Security Council resolutions, and stressing the insurance of freedom of movement in Guerguerat.[73]

The secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Yousef Al-Othaimeen, and the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf, stated that they support Morocco's efforts to what they called "securing freedom of civil and commercial movement."[74][75] The Central American Parliament also expressed its support for Morocco.[76]

On 20 November, the Chairperson of the African Union and President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, wrote a letter to the United Nations Security Council that called for "all the parties to uphold the Settlement Plan, which provides for 'a cease-fire' and the holding of a referendum for the people of Western Sahara to exercise their right to self-determination."[77] The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization released a statement voicing its support for Western Sahara and condemned Morocco's "unlawful assertion" of sovereignty over Western Sahara.[78]

Foreign governments

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Azerbaijan,[79] Bahrain,[80] the Central African Republic,[81] Comoros,[81] the Democratic Republic of the Congo,[82] Chad,[83][84] Djibouti,[85] Equatorial Guinea,[86] Gabon,[87][85] the Gambia,[88] Haiti,[89] Jordan,[90] Kuwait,[91] Liberia,[92] Oman,[93] Qatar,[94] São Tomé and Príncipe,[81] Saudi Arabia,[95] Senegal,[96] Sierra Leone,[97] Turkey,[98] Yemen (Hadi government),[99] and the United Arab Emirates[100] voiced their support for Morocco, while Guyana withdrew its recognition of the SADR.[101]

The Foreign Ministry of the State of Palestine said it "does not interfere in the internal affairs of the brotherly Arab countries".[102] Egypt,[85] Mauritania,[103] Russia,[104] and Spain[105] have all urged both parties to respect the ceasefire.

South Africa, Algeria and Namibia backed the Polisario Front, accused Morocco of violating the ceasefire and urged the UN to appoint a new Western Sahara envoy to restart talks.[106][107] Algeria also sent 60 tons of food and medical aid to the refugees in Western Sahara.[108] On the other hand, Spain's second deputy prime minister Pablo Iglesias Turrión,[109] Cuba,[110] and Venezuela[111] have stated that they supported the right to self-determination of the Sahrawis.

Minorities abroad

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On 15 November, a group of Sahrawis staged a rally in front of the Moroccan consulate in Valencia, Spain. The protestors dismantled the flag of Morocco from the consulate, raising the SADR's flag over the building.[112][113] Spain[114] and Morocco[115] condemned the incident.

Other groups

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The Islamic State released an official statement criticising Morocco and the Polisario Front for allegedly using religion to justify the use of weapons in the conflict, for which it accused both of apostasy.[116]

Analysis

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According to International Crisis Group's Portuguese analytic Riccardo Fabiani, the conflict could be a "potential breaking point that could have major repercussions", adding that the United Nations had been quite negligent towards this issue.[37]

References

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