After sensing the gravity of the criminal terrorist act committed against civilians in the city of Smara in the southern regions, acknowledged by some of its leaders, including Mohamed Amar, the Front’s representative in New York, the latter sent a letter to Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
In the letter, Polisario claimed that Moroccan drones “launched airstrikes on a group of Sahrawi civilians in the liberated area of Zakoula on the 17th of this month, injuring three civilians and damaging two civilian cars,” calling for the “activation of the legal and ethical responsibility of the United Nations towards the Sahrawi people, especially civilians.”
Earlier reports had spoken about the Moroccan army targeting suspicious vehicles in the Azoula area in the buffer zone east of the Moroccan Sahara. Social media users circulated images showing one damaged car in an uninhabited area, while the tents set up nearby, supposed to shelter civilians according to the separatist narrative, were unaffected.
Observers believe that Polisario is attempting to evade responsibility for the recent Smara bombings that targeted residential neighborhoods, resulting in the death of a Moroccan citizen and the injury of others. The attempt seems geared toward avoiding international demands to classify them as part of international terrorism. They note that all available data contradicts the Front’s narrative of Moroccan targeting of civilians.
The images confirm the precision of the alleged military strike, for which there has been no official statement from Moroccan authorities as of now. Additionally, this narrative involves a contradiction in Polisario’s discourse, as these areas are considered “war zones” according to their claims.