Rabat- Petitioners participating in the UN Fourth Committee continue to express concerns about Polisario’s security threats, as the lack of intervention from the international community persists.
Last week, a score of petitioners echoed concerns about Polisario’s regional security threats.
Abdoul Latif Aidara from the African Center for Strategic Intelligence said the Polisario is “well known for criminal activities and ties to terrorist groups.”
Eric Cameron, a member of World Action for Refugees voiced the same concerns, recalling the situation of children in Algeria’s Tindouf camps, where the front has been exposed for recruiting children to its military forces.
He stated that the recruitment of child soldiers in the camps is a “danger to North Africa and the entire Sahel region.”
Security officials are already concerned about the situation in the Sahel, a region also known as an epicenter for terrorist groups, including ISIS and Al Qaeda.
In 2021, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 48% of global terrorism deaths. The death toll from terrorist threats reached 30,000 people over the past 15 years.
In May, Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita said the Sahel region accounts for 35% of global terrorism deaths in 2021 compared to 1% in 2007.
Polisario’s collusion with the Lebanese Islamist party and militant group Hezbollah has also been expressed as a source of concern by many security officials.
In May 2018, Morocco cut ties with Iran, accusing its proxy Hezbollah of training and arming the Polisario Front, a separatist group claiming independence in Western Sahara.
In response to denial from both the Polisario Front and Iran, Morocco said it backed its decision with a comprehensive file and dataset documenting links between Hezbollah and the separatist front.
Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it had sent Tehran the file documenting the collision.
Following the decision to cut ties with Iran, Bourita said in a series of interviews that the file contained data on Hezbollah senior officials visiting Algeria, dates, and venues of meetings with Polisario officials, and lists of names involved in those contacts.
Having previously threatened to carry out terrorist attacks on Moroccan soil, it came as no surprise that several reports emerged indicating links between Polisario and terrorist groups.
Mohamed Ouali Akeik, one of the leading members of the group’s military leaders, threatened Morocco with terrorist attacks in May.
Speaking to Spanish outlet La Razon, the military leader called the southern cities of Laayoune and Dakhla “legitimate” targets, saying that the “war” with Morocco will extend to the southern provinces.
