Last month, we reported that gunfire erupted between Moroccan forces and a pro-independence group in Western Sahara, ending nearly 30 years of peace in the area.
The Moroccan military clashed with fighters from the Polisario Front in several locations.
Brahim Ghali, the Secretary-General of the Polisario Front, announced in a decree the beginning of the “armed struggle in defense of the legitimate rights of our people,” according to CNN. Another official called the military action an “open war” and appealed to supporters to mobilize against the Moroccans.
Fighting erupted on 13 November when Moroccan troops entered a buffer zone. The Moroccans said the protesters had been blocking access on a major road since October. Protesters demanded Morocco release prisoners and accused the Moroccan government of an illegal breach in a 1,700-mile sand wall.
Morocco also became the latest country to announce last week that it would normalize ties with Israel, making it the fourth Arab-Israeli agreement in four months.
The Associated Press said Joe Biden, whom the electoral college affirmed to be the next President, has expressed a desire to “return to a more traditional U.S. position.” The AP reported the U.S. move to recognize the Western Sahara claim is not something that is recognized by the United Nations.
Riccardo Fabiani, the North Africa Director at the International Crisis Group, said the move by the Trump administration, which has pushed for the Moroccan-Israeli agreement, made the “violence much harder.”
“This will also make Sahrawi youths more angry, mobilized, and committed to resolving the conflict through force,” Fabiani told the Financial Times. The paper reported fighting in the region had resumed last month, after the three-decade-long ceasefire.
Sidi Omar, Polisario’s representative at the U.N., told the FT, “We are now in a state of open war.”
“Our main objective is still the liberation of Western Sahara. We did not want this war but Morocco has been emboldened by the inaction of the international community,” Omar said.
The FT reported the conflict risks the stability of the region and can drag in Algeria, which has been sponsoring Polisario forces. The report said the conflict has been considered “low-intensity” but there is a risk it can escalate.
The Washington Post reported that the U.S. is the first major power to recognize Rabat’s claim over the region. Samia Errazzouki, a former journalist from the region who follows developments there, said the U.S. support could be a watershed moment and will likely be something Morocco will use in “future diplomatic engagements with other countries.”
Bloomberg reported that a day after the U.S. announced the deal with Israel, the State Department sent an informal notification of a proposed $1 billion sale in weaponry to Morocco, which includes Reaper drones. Trump said Morocco was the first nation to recognize the U.S. as an independent nation after the Revolutionary War and said it is “thus fitting we recognize their sovereignty over Western Sahara.”
In 1975, Spain, which had colonized the area, withdrew from the region. Morocco has been claiming since then that the region belonged to them.
TREND FORECAST: As we continue to note, as civil wars erupt in sections of Africa and as the “Greatest Depression” worsens, protests, demonstrations, and riots will escalate. Civil wars will spread into regional wars.
