Following the action of the Moroccan occupying forces in Gargarat against Saharawi civilians on November 13, 2020, and the response, also armed, by the Polisario against the Moroccan berm which cuts the country, the Saharawis of the various cities of Western Sahara have expressed their support for their national liberation movement and its war action.
In Morocco’s occupied Western Sahara west of the berm, towns have been besieged by Moroccan security forces, with checkpoints blocking all roads. The homes of Saharawi militants have been particularly monitored.
Every night since Friday, November 13, 2020, hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets of El Aaiun and Dakhla.
In the streets of all districts of El Aaiun, demonstrators shout and wave SADR flags, chanting “Free Western Sahara”. Long convoys of cars joined the demonstrators honking their horns. Clashes take place with the Moroccan security forces who want to disperse the crowds.
Encirclement of the neighbourhoods is not without difficulty everywhere.
In the district of the Red Apartments, the demonstrators succeeded in completely closing the streets, thus blocking the access of the occupying forces. They gathered to continue their protests until Moroccan reinforcements succeeded in dismantling the makeshift roadblocks. The protesters were then chased away by motorcycle squadrons, police cars and auxiliary forces.
25 young Saharawis were arrested after the demonstrations. They are in solitary confinement and banned from visitors. According to several accounts, Moroccan agents in masks or in civilian clothes, mixed with the crowds of demonstrators, film the activists, including the leaders, who are then chased and arrested.
In occupied Dakhla, protests took place in the Ksaikisat and Oum Tounsi neighbourhoods.
In the Oum Tounsi neighbourhood, whose inhabitants are Saharawis forced to leave their village of Bir Anzaran 150 km east of Dakhla, women came out in large numbers, shouting against the Moroccan occupation, and in support of their army.
“We want to return to our village, to live there free and without worry, under the flag of the Saharawi Republic. We are also interested in choosing our way of life without fear” says one participant.
In Boujdour, 4 Saharawi citizens arrested on November 16 are appearing today in El Aaiun.
Since November 15, long columns of Moroccan military reinforcements have been observed in El Aaiun, Tan-Tan, Dakhla and Smara.
Équipe Média, November 17, 2020
