Members of the Algerian army killed two Sahrawis in Southwest of Algeria on Saturday, November 20, according to local reports.
Following the news, former senior Polisario official turned critic Mustafa Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud raised questions about the silence of Sahrawis against Algeria’s involvement in the killing of the two victims.
“It has been over 40 hours since the Algerian army killed two Sahrawis: Lekbir Ould Mouamed Ouled El Markhi and his cousin Ouled Shaaibin in the prison belt that the military put in place to circle the Sahrawis in the [Tindouf] camps.”
Mustafa Salma added that the Algerian military shot the two Sahrawis dead in a Nissan truck not far from the Mauritanian border. The incident took place as an Algerian commercial truck was expected to cross towards Mauritania, he said, adding that the “Algerian commercial truck had been protected by military aircraft.”.
The activist added that the two Sahrawis were carrying 400 liters of fuel, which they were attempting to smuggle to Mauritania to make a living.
He also condemned the lack of response from Sahrawis, especially activists and families who have been condemning and mourning the death of refugees killed in the defense belt.
This is not the first time that Sahrawis are reported to have been killed or imprisoned with Algerian involvement.
The Algerian-backed separatist group of the Polisario Front is known to inflict harm – including torture and other forms of inhumane treatment – on Sahrawi dissidents and anyone who dares to escape the unlivable conditions in the Tindouf camps.
NGOs and human rights activists have long condemned the situation of Sahrawis held in the camps, including Algeria’s collusion with the Polisario leadership to deny them freedom of movement.
In one of his recent posts, Mustafa Salma criticized Algeria for terminating the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline that supplied Spain with Algerian gas through Morocco.
“I hope Algeria can mobilize a smart part of the surplus from which ‘its enemy Morocco’ benefited to the ‘friendly’ camp residents who have been living on its territory for 46 years,” he said.
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Mustafa Salma quoted one of his friends who lives in Tindouf as strongly condemning Algeria’s abuses against Sahrawis.
“We live under the yoke of a despicable and abhorrent occupation [from Algeria’s regime], our poverty turned us into beggars after we were stranded in the land of Algeria a time ago when our fathers trusted the leadership of the Polisario Front and believed their lies,” Mustafa Salma quoted his friends as saying.
