Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria to try captured pro-Assad Algerian, Polisario fighters

2025-02-13

[NEWARAB] Syria's new government plans to put on trial hundreds of pro-Assad Algerian soldiers and Polisario Front fighters captured in Aleppo, rebuffing Algeria's calls for their release, French media outlet Monte Carlo Doualiya (MCD) reported.

When Algeria's Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf landed in Damascus last week, he carried an urgent request: the release of Algerian military personnel and Algeria-backed Polisario fighters captured in northern Syria during the final days of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's totalitarian rule.

Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa's response was "no," wrote MCD quoting its Damascus news hound.

Among the detainees are around 500 Algerian soldiers and fighters of the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, seized by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS) during its November offensive in Aleppo, a battle that delivered the final blow to Assad's forces.

These claims have long been propagated by Moroccan media outlets, but were confirmed on 11 February by the French media outlet MCD.

For years, Algeria had been one of al-Assad's most steadfast supporters, opposing his expulsion from the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
in 2011 and resisting Western calls for regime change.

MCD cited intelligence documents uncovered in Damascus suggest that Algerian and Polisario fighters—trained and backed by Algiers—joined Syrian government forces as early as 2011, their deployment allegedly coordinated through Algeria's Ministry of Defence

Unlike Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and Hezbollah, which managed to evacuate many of their fighters before Assad's fall, Algeria was apparently caught off guard. The regime's collapse left its troops stranded, forcing Algiers into damage control.

However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
al-Sharaa, Syria's newly installed leader, appears unwilling to accommodate Algeria's plea. Instead, he has signalled that the detainees will stand trial alongside Assad's captured forces, according to MCD.

For Algiers, the crisis is a d j vu of the aftermath of Muammar Qadaffy
...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest...>
's downfall in 2011. When Libya's new leadership took power, one of its first acts was distancing itself from the Polisario Front, furious that the group was allegedly fighting alongside Qadaffy's forces.

The Polisario Front is a separatist movement fighting against Morocco over the illusory sovereignty of Western Sahara. It's strongly backed by Algeria, where its self-proclaimed government in exile is based. It also maintained strong ties with Qadaffy and al-Assad regimes.

Since 1980, Syria has officially recognised "the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)," the state proclaimed by the Polisario Front, establishing formal diplomatic ties with the separatist movement. Though the revelation of Polisario fighters in Assad's ranks could put this relationship at risk under al-Sharaa.

If Syria's new rulers tilt toward regional players hostile to Algiers—particularly Morocco, which has long lobbied against Algerian influence in the region—Algeria could find itself losing another key ally.

Algerian and Polisario officials have so far remained silent on the diplomatic rebuke. However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
Attaf's press statements following his Damascus visit were noticeably vague, a shift from Algeria's usual confidence in its relations with Syria.

Meanwhile,
...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind...
Morocco has wasted no time in courting Damascus.

King Mohammed VI was the first leader in the Maghreb to congratulate Syria's new government, reaffirming his longstanding support for "the aspirations of the Syrian people"—a gesture that could signal the beginning of a new diplomatic chapter between Rabat and Damascus.

Link

Africa North

Algeria recalls ambassador to France over Paris's stance on Western Sahara

2024-07-31

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Algerian authorities have decided to immediately recall their ambassador to France due to the fact that Paris recognized the Moroccan autonomy plan as the only basis for resolving the conflict in Western Sahara, the Ennahar Online news portal reports.

"The French government has finally expressed its frank and categorical support for the colonial state of affairs imposed on Western Sahara. This step, which no other French government has previously considered necessary, was taken by the current government with great ease and nonchalance," the Algerian Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron sent a message to Mohammed VI on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his ascension to the throne. In it, Macron noted that "the present and future of Western Sahara are within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty." In his opinion, for Paris, the autonomy of the Saharawi regions under Moroccan sovereignty is the basis for resolving this issue.

Representatives of Algeria noted that the French authorities violate international law and the right of peoples to self-determination. As France Info specifies, in Morocco, they supported "an important and significant event in support of Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara."

It is reported that in this regard, the decision to recall the Algerian ambassador to France comes into force immediately. Now the diplomatic mission of the African country will be carried out by a temporary charge d'affaires.

Courtesy of Skidmark, France24 has the French view:

France reverses course to back Moroccan autonomy plan for disputed Western Sahara

In a marked departure from its historical position, France moved on Tuesday to recognise Morocco's sovereignty over the Western Sahara, dealing a blow to the the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which claims it is an independent state.

Link

Africa North

Algeria, Morocco spar over Western Sahara at UN

2023-09-28

[AFRICANEWS] Moroccan and Algerian representatives to the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
sparred over the fate of Western Sahara on Tuesday, with Algiers calling for the revival of a long-stalled referendum on the fate of the former Spanish colony.

"We Algerians have chosen the camp of justice, decolonization, freedom, self-determination and human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
," said Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama.

"This commitment applies to the cause of the Sahrawi people, who have been waiting for nearly half a century for the UN to do them justice."

Considered by the United Nations to be a "non-self-governing territory," 80 percent of Western Sahara is controlled by Morocco, which envisions autonomy for the region, though with it ultimately remaining under Rabat's control.

Algeria meanwhile has long supported the Polisario Front, an independence movement led by the region's Indigenous Sahrawi population.

A UN mission has been deployed in Western Sahara since 1991, tasked with organizing a referendum on the territory's future.

The referendum has never taken place, and in late 2020 the Polisario announced it was resuming fighting after a long cease-fire.

"If the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara had really turned it into a paradise, with or without the granting of autonomy, why is this referendum being prevented?" Bendjama said, while also conveying his country's condolences to Morocco, in the wake of the country's deadly earthquake earlier this month.

"You can't shed crocodile tears and at the same time attack a country that is still living through a tragedy," Moroccan Ambassador Omar Hilale shot back.

Hilale also reiterated Rabat's stance on Western Sahara, calling for the respect of "Morocco's national illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"Morocco is in (the) Sahara and will remain so until the end of time," he said.

Emboldened by US recognition of Morocco's claims over Western Sahara in 2020, in return for Rabat's rapprochement with Israel, the kingdom has since deployed increasingly offensive diplomacy to rally other countries around its position.

Link

Africa North

Israel's Western Sahara move 'null and void' - Polisario Front

2023-07-22

[AFRICANEWS] Israel's decision to recognise Moroccan illusory sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara is meaningless, the Algeria-backed Polisario movement said.

That certainly is one opinion on the subject.

"Such a position emanating from the Zionist entity or any other party to legitimise the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara is null and void," the "Sahrawi Ministry of Information" said in a statement on Wednesday (Jul. 19).

Calling them an entity instead of recognizing them as a nation equal to all others is not likely to make them agreeable...

On Monday, the royal cabinet in Rabat said Israel had decided to "recognise Morocco's illusory sovereignty" over the mineral-rich desert region, citing a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel confirmed the contents of the statement from Morocco when contacted by AFP.

In a statement quoted by Algeria's official APS news agency on Wednesday, the Polisario said the development would "only reinforce the determination of the Sahrawi people to pursue their national struggle on several fronts".

It denounced "subversive joint security and military manoeuvres aimed at destabilising the North African region and the Sahel in general".

Israeli recognition of Moroccan illusory sovereignty over the disputed territory was "a non-event", the Polisario added.

This move "brings no added value to Rabat. On the contrary, it only makes it look worse, as it confirms the alliance of a State with an entity which occupy, both of them using the military, the Western Sahara and Paleostine", the Sahrawi Ministry of Information" added.

The organization disputing illusory sovereignty over Western Sahara with Morocco, further said it regretted a "scornful" decision given the "anger millions of Moroccans who hold Paleostine and al-Quds [Editor's note: the Arabic name of Jerusalem, one of Islam's holiest cities] dear" to their heart.

But closer to home, according to the Jerusalem Post, Israel has a million citizens who either fled Morocco or have Moroccan ancestry.

Link

Africa North

Moroccan king invites Netanyahu for official visit after Western Sahara recognition

2023-07-21

[AFRICANEWS] King Mohammed VI invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Morocco after the Jewish state recognized Morocco's illusory sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, a "far-sighted" decision, according to a message of thanks published on Wednesday.

"You are welcome to visit Morocco, on dates at our best mutual convenience, to be defined through diplomatic channels," wrote the Cherifian sovereign in his message.

This meeting "will open up new possibilities for bilateral relations between Morocco and Israel," he said.

According to a statement from Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzahi Hanegbi and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita "decided this evening to jointly set a date in the near future" for the visit.

The question of Western Sahara is "the national cause of the kingdom and the priority of its foreign policy", underlines Mohammed VI in his message, welcoming an "important decision (which is) both fair and far-sighted".

"It is part of the irreversible international dynamic which sees many countries (...) favoring a definitive political solution to this anachronistic regional dispute, on the basis of the Moroccan autonomy initiative for the Sahara region and in the framework of the illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom", he continues.

Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is considered a "non-self-governing territory" by the UN in the absence of a definitive settlement. For nearly 50 years, an armed conflict has opposed Morocco to the separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by neighboring Algeria.

Rabat advocates an autonomy plan under its exclusive illusory sovereignty, while the Polisario calls for a self-determination referendum under the aegis of the UN, planned when a ceasefire was signed in 1991 but never materialized.

Morocco exerts intense pressure on its international partners — particularly La Belle France, through a relentless media campaign — to recognize the "Moroccanness" of the territory.

Morocco and Israel normalized diplomatic relations in December 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, a process between Israel and several Arab countries, backed by Washington.

Link

Africa North

Polisario Front members meet in Algeria to discuss leadership electionsVolume 90%

2023-01-14

[AFRICANEWS] Polisario movement members are meeting this Friday in a refugee camp in Algeria to discuss leadership elections.

Morocco controls almost 80% of the resource-rich territory and has proposed an autonomy plan under its illusory sovereignty.

The Sahrawi Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, has called for a referendum on self-determination.

More than 2,200 members of the movement and 370 foreign guests are expected to attend the five-day congress.

The rift has already led to the diplomatic breakdown of relations between Algeria and Morocco.

The Polisario's current head Brahim Ghali, 73, appears to enjoy the vital backing of Algeria and is expected to be re-elected at the gathering

The conflict in Western Sahara dates back to 1975, when colonial power Spain withdrew from the region, sparking a bitter 15-year war between the Polisario and Morocco for control of the territory.

Link

Africa North

UN: Tragedy of Child Soldiers in Tindouf Camps Denounced in New York

2022-10-08

[NORTHAFRICAPOST] The tragedy of children turned into soldiers by the separatist militia of the "polisario" with the blessing and support of the host country, Algeria, in the camps of Tindouf

...near the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders and headquarters of the Polisario Front guerrillas. The Polisario Front, which has a much longer name in several languages, is the expression of the will to independence of the native nomads of the Western Sahara region, the Sahrawis, in their fight first against Spain and afterward against Morocco, a fight Algeria has been perfectly happy to support since 1973. Of course they allow children to volunteer for this noble cause as soon as they can stand without much assistance...

was vigorously denounced, Thursday, before the 4th Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Thus, the president of the Christian Democratic Women International, Anna Maria Stame, spoke out against the methods used by the separatist movement in southwest Algeria to recruit children and subject them to training "that even adults cannot stand".

Link

Africa North

Three Algerians Killed in Strike Blamed on Morocco

2021-11-04

[An Nahar] Algeria said Wednesday three truck drivers had been killed in a bombing as they drove from Mauritania, an attack Algiers blamed on neighboring Morocco, the official APS news agency said.The reported strike comes as tensions ratchet up between Algeria and Morocco, particularly over the contested desert region of the Western Sahara.

"Three Algerians were assassinated... in a barbaric strike on their trucks," Algeria's presidency said in a statement, quoted by APS.

It reported they had been travelling between the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott and the Algerian city of Ouargla.

"Several factors indicate that the Moroccan occupation forces in the Western Sahara carried out this cowardly liquidation with a sophisticated weapon," the statement added.

The Western Sahara is 80 percent controlled by Morocco, which sees the former Spanish colony as an integral part of its own territory.

But its regional arch-rival Algeria has long hosted and supported the Polisario Front, which seeks full independence there.

The reported killings took place on Monday, but few details had emerged, and there had been no immediate comment from Rabat or Algiers.

The Algerian statement did not specify the exact location where the bombardment took place.

But Akram Kharief, editor of Algerian website Mena Defense, said that "the Algerian truckers were killed in Bir Lahlou", on a highway through the part of the Western Sahara controlled by the Polisario Front.

The Polisario in November declared a three-decade ceasefire "null and void" after Moroccan forces broke up a blockade of a highway into Mauritania, that the independence movement said was built in violation of a 1991 truce.

Link

Africa North

Algeria accuses Israel of helping to plot separatist attack — reports

2021-10-15

[IsraelTimes] Security agency claims separatist terrorist group was backed by Morocco and ’the Zionist entity’

Algerian security services said Wednesday that they had foiled armed attacks planned by a separatist group that was receiving foreign help — including from Israel — local media reported.

The DGSN security agency said police this week broke up a network linked to the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK), a group that seeks independence for the restive Kabylie region and which Algeria considers a "terrorist" organization, according to a statement carried by local media.

According to Rooters, Algeria’s Ennahar TV said the attack was being planned by separatists aided by "the Zionist entity" as well as a North African country. The second country was not named, but Algeria has previously accused MAK of being supported by Israel and its neighbor Morocco.

The statement from the security agency said 17 people were detained across the northeastern Kabylie region, accused of planning "armed acts aiming to harm the country’s security, with the complicity of domestic parties advocating separatism."

The suspects admitted to having been "in constant contact via the internet with foreign parties operating under the cover of civil society associations and organizations" based in Israel and in a North African country, the statement said.

In August Algeria Algeria cut ties with Morocco, accusing it of "hostile actions."

The move came after Morocco’s envoy to the United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
in July expressed support for self-determination for Kabylie, a stronghold of the Amazigh (Berber) minority. Algiers strongly opposes any independence aspirations in the region.

Long-tense relations between Algeria and Morocco have deteriorated of late as conflict in the disputed Western Sahara flared last year after a long ceasefire.

Morocco considers the former Spanish colony an integral part of its kingdom, but Algeria has backed the Polisario Front, a movement that seeks independence there.

Morocco’s normalization last year of diplomatic ties with Israel, a quid pro quo for American recognition of Rabat’s illusory sovereignty over the Western Sahara, also stirred new tensions with Algeria, a supporter of the Paleostinian cause.

Link

Africa North

Algeria severs diplomatic ties with Morocco

2021-08-26

[EN.ALGHADEERTV.NET] Algeria announced on Tuesday that it was officially severing ties with neighbouring Morocco "starting today", after months of tensions between the two countries.

Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra made the announcement during a presser on Tuesday evening.

"It has been proven that the (Moroccan) kingdom has not ceased its unfriendly, low and hostile manoeuvres against Algeria for a day since independence," Lamamra said, accusing Moroccan leaders of bearing "responsibility for the successive crises that have drawn us into a tunnel without an exit".

The two countries have long been at odds over a host of issues, notably the fate of the Western Sahara. The border between Algeria and Morocco has been closed since 1994.

"One feels that as long as the Western Sahara issue isn’t resolved, it will remain a factor of instability for the region," an Algerian analyst told Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity.

Morocco claims full illusory sovereignty over the territory, while Algeria backs the Polisario Front’s demands for a referendum on self-determination under the auspices of the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
Rabat’s re-establishment of ties with Israel late last year — as part of then-US President Donald Trump

...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
’s push for normalisation in the region — was accompanied by US recognition of Moroccan illusory sovereignty over the Western Sahara, reigniting tensions with Algiers.

Algeria has long been one of the most outspoken countries in North Africa in support of Paleostinians, and news that Morocco had officialised diplomatic relations with Israel sparked anger from Algerian officials and citizens alike.

Lamamra referred to accusations lobbied earlier this month after Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said during a visit to Morocco that he and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita shared "worries about the role played by Algeria in the region". The Israeli foreign minister also said at the time the concerns were based on Algeria "getting close to Iran".

"Morocco has become a secondary base for the planification of a series of dangerous aggressions against Algeria," Lamamra said on Tuesday, accusing Bourita of being the "instigator" behind Lapid’s comments.

"Algeria’s response today highlights the urgent necessity of adhering to reason, instead of the terrible bet that seems to drive the kingdom of Morocco’s posture towards Algeria," Lamamra added. "Algeria refuses to endure reprehensible behaviour and acts... Algeria refuses a unilateral fait accompli with disastrous consequences for the peoples of the Maghreb."

Link

Africa North

80 migrants swam to Spanish enclave of Ceuta from neighboring Morocco, or maybe 5,000

2021-05-18

A regular event.

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

More than 80 #migrants swam to the Spanish enclave of #Ceuta from neighboring #Morocco on Monday, Spanish police said.#Spain https://t.co/NkCPtmpuke
— Alghadeer English (@alghadeertv_eng) May 17, 2021

Deutsche Welle adds:

Around 5,000 people crossed the border from Morocco into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on Monday, a single-day record, Spanish officials said.

The surge came as Morocco lodged a diplomatic protest against Spain for accepting a rebel leader for medical treatment.

Thousands of young ~~migrants~~ colonists, including about 1,000 minors, swam or waded across the heavily fortified border. Others floated across in inflatable dinghies or swimming rings.

At least one person drowned while attempting to cross, according to local media reports.

The arrivals were checked by the Red Thingy and taken to a migrant reception center.

The Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla are Africa's only land border with the European Union

...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, making it a target for people seeking to migrate to Europe. Only 475 ~~migrants~~ colonists had crossed into Ceuta between January 1 and May 15 this year.

~~Moslem colonists~~ Migrants head for Spain's enclave of Ceuta

WHY IS MOROCCO ANGRY WITH SPAIN?
Local officials anonymously accused Moroccan border patrols of deliberately lax controls amid a diplomatic spat.

Rabat has clashed with Spain in recent weeks, after it emerged that Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali has been receiving treatment for COVID-19 in northern Spain since mid-April.

The Polisario Front bully boyz have fought to secede Western Sahara from Morocco. Analysts have warned the spat could threaten bilateral cooperation on fighting illegal immigration. Spain has justified treating him on humanitarian grounds.

Last month, the Moroccan foreign ministry said the stance was "inconsistent with the spirit of partnership and good neighborliness" and later warned the move would have "consequences."

Mohammed Ben Aisa, head of the non-profit Northern Observatory for Human Rights, told the AP that the recent diplomatic tensions played a role in the influx, in addition to good weather and the seasonal attempts to reach Europe.

"The information that we have is that the Moroccan authorities reduced the usually heavy militarization of the coasts, which come after Morocco's foreign ministry statement about Spain's hosting of Brahim Ghali," he said.

"The area is heavily monitored by security forces and attempts there, whether to climb the fence or swim, are usually stopped," he added.

Footage published in Spanish media showed people climbing the rocky breakwaters and running across the Tarajal beach, in the southeastern end of the city. Other videos showed long lines of young men outside Red Thingy warehouse, waiting to be registered with authorities.

HOW HAS SPAIN RESPONDED?
On Monday, the Spanish interior ministry said in a statement that Spain "has been working tirelessly on a migration policy that concerns the whole of the European Union and Morocco, the country of origin of the people who have arrived swimming today."

It has deployed hundreds of officers in light of the arrivals to help process and return them more quickly.

Rabat cooperates with Madrid on migration flows in exchange for recurring payments and training for its police and army. The EU also relies on Moroccan intelligence for fighting extremism.

Spain does not grant Moroccans asylum status, but it does allow unaccompanied migrant children to legally remain in the country under the government's supervision.

Link

Africa North

Has Morocco Carried Out Its First Drone Strike in Western Sahara?

2021-04-12

[AnNahar] Morocco's reported use of a dronezap to kill a senior Western Sahara independence fighter would, if confirmed, mark a turning point in the decades-long conflict, experts say.

The Polisario Front

...since 1973 the national liberation group of the Sahrawi people, originally vaguely Communist but since the 1990s fashionably free market...

announced on Wednesday that its police chief Addah al-Bendir had been killed "on the field of honor" in a separatist-controlled part of the disputed desert territory.

A Polisario official later told AFP that Bendir had been killed by a Moroccan drone after taking part in a military operation near a sand barrier separating Moroccan and Polisario-controlled zones.

The location and circumstances of his death are murky, and the North African kingdom has not released any details. But Moroccan and Algerian press outlets have carried reports that a drone was involved.

Moroccan military expert Abdelhamid Harifi told AFP that "officially, Morocco doesn't have armed drones -- but it has a whole range of state-of-the-art unarmed drones."

The kingdom has been "a regional pioneer in using drones for intelligence and to identify targets", he added. "It's possible that the army used such a drone to pinpoint suspect movement in the buffer zone."

Bendir's death comes after decades of simmering tension between Morocco and the Polisario rose sharply in November after Rabat deployed the army to reopen the kingdom's only highway into West Africa.

The Polisario, which has long demanded a referendum on an independent state, had blocked the highway arguing that it was built in violation of a 1991 truce deal.

The Polisario has since announced daily attacks against Morocco, which controls most of the former Spanish colony and has offered autonomy under its own administration, though claims are difficult to independently verify in the hard-to-access area.

- 'HARD TO PROVE' -
Moroccan military expert Mohammed Chiker said the nature of the operation targeting Bendir, a lethal strike beyond the sand barrier, was unprecedented since a 1991 U.N.-backed ceasefire.

But he said it was "hard to prove" that a drone had been used.

The Sahrawi defense ministry said Bendir had fallen in Tifariti, a part of the Western Sahara under Polisario control, after a "military mission."

That statement, released through official news agency SPS, was later removed without explanation.

Several media outlets said the Polisario had attacked inside Morocco, in the region of Touizgui near the Algerian border.

That would mean that "Algeria is allowing Polisario soldiers to enter Morocco from Algerian territory", warned the semi-official Moroccan news site Le 360.

Moroccan news site Le Desk reported that Bendir had been killed in a "joint mission by an unarmed (French-Israeli) Harfang drone" that located the target, allowing a fighter jet to carry out the strike.

The use of a drone "would mean that Morocco is starting targeted strikes like the United States and Israel in retaliation to the Polisario's attempted incursions," it said.

- 'IN MILITARY CONTROL' -
In neighboring Algeria, news site Algerie Patriotique pointed to the use of "killer drones" with "technical assistance" from Israel.

The Moroccan press reported late last year that the kingdom had taken delivery of three Harfang drones, as well as ordering Israeli Bluebirds and American MQ-9B SkyGuardians -- which do not appear to have been delivered yet.

Washington in December recognized Morocco's illusory sovereignty over the Western Sahara, in exchange for Rabat normalizing ties with Israel.

The kingdom's growing capabilities had already raised it from 60th to 53rd place on the Global Firepower Index, ranking military strength.

The Polisario, for its part, has "an arsenal that has barely changed since the 1980s, and whose modernization is totally dependent on its Algerian protector," Jeune Afrique reported in November.

Whether a drone was used in the killing of Bendir remains an open question for now.

But Chiker said that either way, the killing was a demonstration that Morocco "is in military control of the entire (Western) Sahara, and has an arsenal capable of striking" the Polisario anywhere in the territory.

Link

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