The separatists of the Polisario Front claimed on Tuesday to have killed three Moroccan soldiers the day before during an attack in the region of Ouarkziz, in southern Morocco, near the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
This announcement by the
Saharawi
"ministry"
of Defense could not, however, be confirmed from an independent source and it was not possible to obtain an official comment in Rabat.
Read also: Western Sahara: Morocco complains about the Polisario Front
This is the first time that the Sahrawi forces say they have inflicted losses in the Moroccan ranks inside Morocco since the breaking of the ceasefire declared by the Polisario in mid-November.
The press release passed on by the Sahrawi agency SPS reports an
"operation against a garrison (...) of Moroccan forces stationed in Ouarkziz, inside Morocco" on
Monday at dawn.
The Saharawi People's Liberation Army (ALPS)
"occupied this garrison before completely demolishing it"
, says the press release, which does not mention any record on the Saharawi side.
The operation, which made it possible to seize weapons, ammunition and documents, left three dead in the Moroccan ranks,
"including a non-commissioned officer",
according to the same source.
The text mentions without details a
"similar operation"
in the Touizgui sector, further east towards the Algerian border.
This assertion could also not be confirmed from an independent source.
The Polisario says it is
"in a state of war of self-defense"
since Morocco sent troops on November 13 to the buffer zone of Guerguerat, in the extreme south of Western Sahara, to drive out a group of Sahrawi militants who were blocking the only road to neighboring Mauritania.
Last month, the Sahrawi forces claimed to have bombed the Guerguerat area, warning of a forthcoming
"escalation".
Rabat then spoke of
"harassment shots".
Echoing the official position of the kingdom, the Moroccan news site Yabilabi echoed on Tuesday the press release announcing the three deaths, affirming that
"the Polisario Front continues to fuel war propaganda against Morocco".
The question of the status of Western Sahara, considered as a
"non-autonomous territory"
by the UN in the absence of a definitive settlement, has for decades opposed Morocco to the Polisario.
The latter calls for a self-determination referendum planned by the UN, while Morocco, which controls more than two-thirds of the territory, proposes an autonomy plan under its sovereignty.
The quadripartite peace negotiations (Morocco, Polisario, Algeria and Mauritania) conducted under the auspices of the UN have stalled since March 2019.