Rabat – A senior Polisario member has stirred renewed alarm after issuing fresh terror threats against Morocco.
Mansur Omar, a senior member of the Polisario leadership, threatened the international community, especially Morocco, that the separatist group possesses “weapons with a range that can reach Laayoune and Dakhla.”
As part of his terror threats, he alleged that if Polisario uses these weapons, “Morocco will then have neither phosphates nor fish.”
The remarks came amid international concerns over the separatist groups’ escalating threats and militarization.
He claimed that buying weapons is not a “problem,” alleging that the separatist group “does not wish to use its weapons” and that it is “waging a low-intensity war.”
In November 2020, Polisario declared a “war” on Morocco following Rabat’s peaceful intervention to lift a blockade imposed by the separatist group at the Guerguerat border crossing. The region is a vital route linking Morocco and Mauritania. It had been blocked for weeks, halting civilian trade and traffic.
In response to Polisario’s provocations, King Mohammed VI emphasized that Morocco’s army intervention is within the framework of its “most legitimate right.”
In a phone call with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the monarch emphasized that Morocco assumed its responsibilities after the UN’s laudable attempts failed to restore security in the region.
The King stated that Morocco’s military action aligns with its most “legitimate right, especially since this is not the first time that the ‘Poliario’ militias have engaged in unacceptable behavior.”
Lawmakers from several countries, including the US, have recently urged their governments to classify the Algeria-backed Polisario Front as a terrorist organization, citing the group’s repeated threats and potential risk to destabilize the region.
In July, the US Congress officially published the full text of a bill introduced by Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, who called on his country to designate Polisario as a terrorist group.
The bill highlights Polisario’s collusion with Iranian proxy Hezbollah as well as its involvement in violent attacks against Moroccan forces, as well as its role in destabilizing the Maghreb and Sahel regions.
“The Polisario Front has a documented history of ideological and operational ties with Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism, dating back at least to 1980, when Polisario fighters publicly posted with portraits of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in a bid to attract revolutionary credibility and Iranian patronage,” reads the congressional bill.
Mansur’s outburst marks another threat in a series of similar heinous statements from the separatist group.
Earlier this year, Polisario member Mustapha Sidi Ali El Bachir, conveyed similar terror threats, noting that foreign investors and tourists visiting southern provinces are “in great danger.”
He threatened those living in Morocco’s southern provinces not to work with foreigners.
The separatist group is reiterating and confirming that “in line with Polisario’s statement from November 13, 2020, announcing the return to war, any foreign investor or tourist in the Sahara is putting their life at risk,” he said.
“Let the Sahrawi stay away from foreigners and not come telling us they’re civilians or innocent. This is not a tourism context, but a wartime context.” Last year, the Polisario also targeted a ceremony celebrating the 49th anniversary of the Green March in Mahbes on November 9.
A year earlier, the separatist group also launched a terror attack in Es-Semara in southern Morocco, killing one and injuring three others.
