Morocco Opens Investigation into Western Sahara Attacks

Forces loyal to the Polisario Front (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Forces loyal to the Polisario Front (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Morocco Opens Investigation into Western Sahara Attacks

Forces loyal to the Polisario Front (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Forces loyal to the Polisario Front (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Morocco's Public Prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Laayoune said that investigations were opened into a series of explosions that killed one person and injured three others on Saturday in the city of Smara in Western Sahara.

The Public Prosecutor said in a statement that the investigations were entrusted to a team with technical and ballistic expertise to identify the origin and nature of the projectiles.

The projectiles killed one man, injured three others, and also damaged two houses. Two people suffering from severe injuries were transferred to a hospital in Laayoune, west of Smara.

Moroccan al-Yaoum 24 website said the explosions in Smara were caused by the Polisario attacks launched from the Tifariti region, in a dangerous precedent that targeted residential neighborhoods.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Moroccan sources said that the Polisario Front is "playing with fire" by targeting civilians, describing its actions as a "cowardly act of terrorism."

Meanwhile, the Sahara Press Service, affiliated with the Polisario Front, said its units targeted Moroccan forces in the al-Mahbas sector, causing heavy losses.

The Ministry of National Defense issued a military communique stating that advanced units of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army targeted Moroccan soldiers in Akrara el-Fersik and el-Shadimia.

Morrocan forces were also targeted in the Mahbes sector.

The source stated that the Front's militias focused their attacks earlier, targeting Moroccan forces' positions in the Smara and Mahbas.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
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France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.