Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Marrakech – The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ annual report on Western Sahara, covering developments from October 2024 through August 2025, confirms Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces (FAR) completed construction of a strategic 93-kilometer road connecting Smara to Mauritania through Amgala. This infrastructure provides a second border crossing alongside Guerguerat and is poised to open soon.
The report, issued September 30 for Security Council consideration ahead of MINURSO’s mandate expiration, states that MINURSO observed Morocco completing the road construction between January and March 2025.
During a February 19 meeting in Agadir, the Commander of the FAR Southern Zone assured the MINURSO Force Commander that the road “was meant for civilian use and unrelated to the operations” of Moroccan forces, demonstrating Morocco’s commitment to peaceful economic development in its southern provinces.
Morocco’s Minister of Equipment and Istiqlal Party Secretary General Nizar Baraka announced on September 21 in Smara that the crossing will open within two weeks. He characterized the project as reinforcing road connections and catalyzing commercial exchanges between Morocco and Mauritania.
The comprehensive infrastructure project cost MAD 49.7 million (approximately $5 million). Four road sections comprise the development, with the final 53-kilometer stretch of National Road 17 completed at MAD 28.23 million ($2.82 million).
Earlier sections totaling 40 kilometers were finished between 2017 and 2023 with investments of MAD 7 million ($700,000), MAD 9.54 million ($954,000), and MAD 4.92 million ($492,000), respectively. A 3,600-square-meter roadside station was built at MAD 900,000 ($90,000), incorporating a mosque, housing, cafe, and sanitary facilities.
Trade between Nouakchott and Rabat currently represents 17% of Mauritania’s total exchange with the African continent, according to Mauritania’s National Statistics Agency report from May.
The Mauritanian Ministry of Interior officially confirmed on February 11 the creation of 82 mandatory border posts, including the Amgala-Bir Oum Grine crossing, classified as bilateral and open under existing laws and agreements.
While Morocco continues the legitimate development of its southern provinces, the separatist Polisario Front persists in provocative actions threatening regional stability.
The UN report documents 142 firing incidents reported by the FAR between September 2024 and August 2025, with approximately 50% concentrated in the Mahbas area. The separatist militants have also obstructed UN investigations, refusing to permit MINURSO to investigate nine alleged incidents east of the berm.
The renegade Polisario Front has issued explicit military threats against Mauritania regarding the new border crossing. As detailed in inflammatory statements circulated through pro-separatist media outlets, militant Polisario leader Bachir Mustapha Sayed directly threatened to “drag Nouakchott into armed conflict,” claiming the crossing would “turn Sahrawi borders into Moroccan borders” and “embroil Mauritania in a war between brothers.”
These explicit threats mirror similar intimidation tactics from December 2019, when Polisario chieftain Ibrahim Ghali warned Mauritanian officials their country “would be the first to be affected by any tension between Morocco and Polisario.”
Such belligerent declarations clearly demonstrate the separatist group’s willingness to jeopardize regional peace and obstruct economic development.
Autonomy Plan remains the endgame
Meanwhile, Morocco’s legitimate sovereignty over its southern provinces continues to gain international recognition. Personal Envoy Staffan de Mistura continued consultations with all parties.
Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita insisted autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty remained “the end game, not the starting point of the process” during the September 2024 meetings.
The 22-page document cites that the United States reiterated its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in an April 8 statement, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging parties to engage “using Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal as the only framework.”
Similarly, the United Kingdom stated on June 1 that it considers Morocco’s Autonomy Plan “the most credible, viable and pragmatic basis for a lasting resolution of the dispute.”
The Secretary-General’s report notes that Morocco controls over three-quarters of Western Sahara territory and has made substantial investments, including a $1.2 billion port project in Dakhla.
A census conducted by Moroccan authorities in September 2024 showed the population west of the berm increased from approximately 450,000 to 600,000 since 2014, reflecting Morocco’s successful development efforts.
The report also highlights that Security Council resolution 1754 from 2007 took note of Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal in its preambular paragraphs and welcomed Morocco’s efforts as “serious and credible” to move the process forward.
As the MINURSO mandate expires on October 31, Secretary-General Guterres recommends that the Security Council extend it until October 31, 2026. The mission’s military component consisted of 150 personnel as of August 31, conducting ground patrols covering approximately 364,440 kilometers during the reporting period.
