Dah Al-Bendir, head of the Polisario Gendarmerie and senior official, was killed on Wednesday, April 7, in a drone strike aimed at his convoy in disputed territory in Western Sahara. If Rabat remains silent about this operation, the Polisario Front confirms it and maintains its hostile position vis-à-vis the Moroccan army.
The Independence Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco had observed a ceasefire for almost 30 years before resumption of hostilities, mid-November 2020, when Moroccan troops deployed in a buffer zone south of Western Sahara. Their goal was to drive out the separatists who blocked the only trade route to West Africa. Polisario then announced the resumption of fighting.
These tensions peaked on Wednesday, April 7, with the death of Dah Al-Bendir, head of the Polisario Gendarmerie. The man, born in 1956, was killed by a drone strike attributed to Morocco. A senior Saharawi military official, on condition of anonymity, confirmed the information to AFP. According to him, Dah Al-Bendir had just taken part in an attack “in the Bir Lehlou area” before a few hours later, a hundred kilometers away, he was targeting “in the Tifariti region”.
“Our army is determined to see this war come to an end”
On Facebook, the Far-Morocco Forum claimed that Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, had survived this drone strike, which appears to be the first attack carried out by the Moroccan army in the conflict between it. Against the separatists. If Rabat remains silent about this operation, Polisario confirms it. Oubi Buchraya Bachir, his representative, spoke in Paris at the microphone Houda Ibrahim:
“One of our military leaders died on the battlefield in the liberated areas of Western Sahara, during an attack carried out by a Moroccan army. First, this attack – and the like that happens every day in Western Sahara between the Sahrawi and Moroccan armies, contrary to the Moroccan Government’s claims, confirms the effective existence of military clashes every day. Secondly, we expected it. This is the logic of war, and our army is determined to see this war of liberation through to the end. In the meantime, we will know how to adapt to this drone war and master the Moroccan defensive wall, which had become virtually insignificant in the late 1980s. “
(with AFP)
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