Western Saharan clashes (2020–present)
Clashes between military forces belonging to the Kingdom of Morocco and the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, represented at the United Nations by the Polisario Front, broke out in the disputed region of Western Sahara in November 2020. It was the latest escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, which is largely occupied by Morocco, but 20–25% is administered by the SADR. The violence ended a ceasefire between the opposing sides that had held for 29 years in anticipation of a referendum on self-determination that would have settled the dispute. Despite the establishment of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara in 1991, the referendum was never held.
Tensions between Morocco and the Polisario Front deepened in mid-October 2020 when Sahrawi peaceful protesters blocked a controversial road connecting Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara to sub-Saharan Africa. The protesters camped on the road near the small village of Guerguerat, which passes through a 5-kilometre-wide buffer strip monitored by the UN. Despite the controversy, the route had grown in economic importance, such that the protest stranded about 200 Moroccan truck drivers on the Mauritanian side of the border. According to the MINURSO, both Morocco and Polisario deployed forces near the area in late October, with Mauritanian forces reinforcing their positions along its border with Western Sahara.
On 13 November, Morocco launched a military operation from the Berm into the demilitarized buffer strip of Western Sahara to clear the protesters near Guerguerat and restore the free movement of goods and people. The Polisario Front urged the United Nations to intervene, noting that the Moroccan military operation violated the ceasefire agreements of the 1990s, and accused the Moroccan security forces of shooting at unarmed civilians in the buffer strip. Morocco denied there had been any armed clashes between the sides and said the truce remained in place, while SADR authorities declared the ceasefire over. Clashes spread that same day along the Moroccan Berm, with Morocco claiming that it had repelled a Sahrawi incursion near Al Mahbes. The SADR declared war on Morocco the next day. Since the beginning of the conflict, both countries have begun mass mobilisation. The SADR Ministry of Defense claims to be carrying out daily bombardments on military objectives along the Moroccan Berm. It is the first major clash in the region since 1991.
Background
Western Sahara War
The disputed region of Western Sahara is a sparsely populated area mostly comprising desert territories, situated in the Maghreb region of Africa's northwest coast. The region was a Spanish colony until February 1976, when the Spanish government informed the United Nations that it withdrew from the territory. Since then, the region has been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco, supported by a number of its prominent Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and the Saharawi Republic, an African Union member state established by the Algerian-backed pro-independence Polisario Front, which is recognized by the United Nations as the legitimate representative of the indigenous Sahrawi people. Some commentators have connected Morocco's interests over the region with the idea of Greater Morocco, which encompasses Western Sahara and parts of both Mauritania, Mali, and Algeria, and according to the narrative, was divided up by the French and Spanish colonizers. Morocco, claiming Tindouf and Béchar provinces, invaded Algeria in 1963, resulting in the brief Sand War, which ended in a military stalemate.File:MINURSO Deployment.png|thumb|The official United Nations map of the MINURSO peacekeeping mission shows that the border crossing at Guerguerat is not among the recognized locations to cross the Moroccan Berm.
While the Polisario Front had waged a low-intensity war of national liberation against Spanish colonial authorities since May 1973, the Western Sahara War began in October 1975, just weeks before the death of long-time Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, when Moroccan and Mauritanian forces, aided by France, invaded the Spanish colony. While Mauritania withdrew from Western Sahara and recognized the Saharawi Republic early in the conflict, by the end of the war Morocco had obtained control of more than two-thirds of the vast desert territory in its western part, along the Atlantic Ocean. During the war, between 1980 and 1987, Morocco built six mostly sand barriers some long, and in 1988, both Morocco and the Polisario Front agreed to a UN Settlement Plan, approved by the UN Security Council on 29 April 1991, called for a referendum, which would ask the Sahrawis to choose between independence or integration into Morocco, to be organized and conducted by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. After the war, on 6 September 1991, an UN-brokered ceasefire was signed, promising a referendum on self-determination to the Sahrawis. The United Nations has recognising the area as a non-self-governing territory since 1963; it is also the only African territory on the list, making the Western Sahara the last African territory subject to decolonization. Since then, the referendum has been repeatedly delayed; Morocco had refused the terms of the referendum, citing its dissatisfaction with who was allowed to vote, while tens of thousands of Moroccans have emigrated to the region since the 1970s.
Guerguerat Blockade
is a small village located on the southern coast of the region, along the Moroccan National Route 1 leading to Mauritania, some north of Nouakchott, in a buffer zone patrolled by MINURSO; UN's envoy to the region, Horst Köhler, resigned in mid-2019 for health-related reasons. The Polisario Front considers the road illegal since they say it was built in violation of the ceasefire. Tensions yet again deepened between Morocco and the Polisario Front in mid-October, when unarmed Sahrawi refugees from Tindouf, Algeria passed through SADR-controlled territories to camp on and block the road in protest of what they called the plunder of Western Saharan resources from the Sahrawi people, creating a large caravan of vehicles and blocking traffic in the region.Morocco, which regards the region as vital to trade with sub-Saharan Africa, accused the Polisario Front of infiltrating the buffer zone and "carrying out acts of banditry" in Guerguerat. The Moroccan authorities also stated that the Polisario Front was harassing UN troops at the crossing, though the UN denied this.
These protesters were later joined by a group of up to 12 Sahrawi People's Liberation Army fighters and 8 light vehicles, two of which had mounted heavy weapons, in violation of the ceasefire. The Polisario Front claimed they were exclusively there to protect the protesters but later removed some of the light vehicles on 29 October after being told by MINURSO to withdraw from the area. At the same time, 16 Royal Moroccan Army vehicles carrying heavy-duty machinery were observed west of the berm near Guerguerat. To reduce tensions, MINURSO requested that the Moroccan army to leave the area. Despite claiming it would comply with the request, no withdrawal was observed.
In early November, around 200 Moroccan truck drivers appealed to Moroccan and Mauritanian authorities for help, saying they were stranded on the Mauritanian side of the border near Guerguerat, and adding that they didn't have access to drinking water, food, shelter, or medicine, with some suffering from chronic illnesses. According to Jeune Afrique, Morocco first appealed to the United Nations to resolve the conflict peacefully, and that although the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, approved this request, the situation was not resolved. Guterres himself likewise said that he had launched numerous initiatives to prevent escalation within the buffer zone, but his efforts had failed. On 6 November, MINURSO observed Morocco deploying a large force of 250 vehicles near Guerguerat. On 12 November, Mauritanian forces reinforced their positions along border with Polisario Front-controlled territories.
Course of the conflict
Non-military actions taken by Morocco and the SADR
On 13 November 2020, both Morocco and the SADR introduced mass mobilisation. The SADR evacuated civilians from the Guerguerat area and introduced a curfew in the territories under its control.Foreign weapon supplies
Morocco
Following the signing of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement in December 2020, Morocco has purchased advanced military equipment from Israel including at least 150 drones. The use of these drones has been documented in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara where they have killed both SPLA fighters and civilians. Israeli drones are also suspected to have been used to follow the movements of SPLA forces. In October 2022, Morocco made a deal with Israel to build two factories to produce war drones with Israeli supervision and expertise. These factories, once completed, will allow Morocco to manufacture advanced drones at a low cost compared to those it had been buying from China and Turkey.Morocco reportedly used a Chinese-made Wing Loong Is, among a few given as a gift from the United Arab Emirates, to kill Addah al-Bendir, the chief of the Polisario's Gendarmerie, in April 2021. Missile fragments examined by the Intercept indicated that Bayraktar TB2 attack drones sold by Turkey have been used on targets in Western Sahara.
SADR
Since the start of the clashes, Algeria has reiterated its support for Western Saharan independence. However, Algeria has been reluctant to send the SADR any serious type of equipment. Consequently, the SADR has been compelled to rely on outdated equipment dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, given that its previous arms supplier, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in 2011. This predicament poses a challenge for the SPLA forces as they have to confront Moroccan forces equipped with more advanced weaponry, including drones.Despite that, Algeria still cooperates with the SADR by opening up its borders every day to SPLA fighters armed with artillery who shoot at Moroccan positions.