The Algerian army fired during the night from Saturday to Sunday on two elements of the Polisario of the Tindouf camps, leaving one dead and seriously injured. The two victims would have braved the guard and the Algerian military sentries to do in the night gold panning.
The so-called Lakbir Ould Mohamed Ould sid Ahmed Ould El Markhi and Ould Mohamed Fadel Ould Laman Ould Chghibine of the Sellam – Rguibat tribe, were targeted by members of the ANP, the Algerian national gendarmerie more precisely, the latter being placed under the supervision of the Ministry of National Defense. The first paid for it with his life while the vital prognosis of the second is seriously engaged. Both were known to be members of the Polisario and one even had his residence address in Spain. This new crime perpetrated by Algerian soldiers comes on top of the many others that the ANP regularly commits against those kidnapped in Tindouf.
Following this night trip which cost the life of a Polisario gold miner and seriously injured another who ignored the exit ban imposed on the five Sahrawi kidnapped camps in Tindouf, the Algerian national gendarmerie transported them to the hospital of the city of Tindouf. The family of Lakbir Ould Mohamed Ould sid Ahmed Ould El Markhi, killed on the spot, refused to recover the corpse for burial, thus setting a precedent with the Algerian authorities. From the second there is no news except that he was seriously injured and that he was under medical surveillance and of course that of the gendarmerie.
It must be said that gold panning in the vicinity of Tindouf “it’s a way of life” for the sequestered from the camps who willingly devote themselves to it at the risk of their lives. This is because unemployment and idleness characterize life in the camps. So young Sahrawis have no other recourse than to indulge in gold panning. They generally exploit areas of the Ghar Ajbilat region in southwestern Algeria. Many of them left their lives there either under the collapse of sites or by coming under fire from the Algerian army. Algeria jealous of its subsoil, particularly in these regions, prohibits any movement of Saharawis between the camps and limits them to authorizations. Also any exploitation of Algerian soil is considered a serious offense which can be fatal to its perpetrator.
This is not the first time that the ANP has engaged in these heinous crimes. That of this weekend is just another modus operandi where premeditation is required and which adds to the chain of numerous crimes perpetrated by the Algerian army on Sahrawi civilians, and this since two Sahrawi gold miners were burned alive. Their parents were forced by the Polisario leadership to shut up. This new deadly attack, inevitably will further inflame the situation in the camps and sources in no way exclude other waves of insecurity or even insurrection because of the popular outcry provoked by this recourse by the Algerian army which employs the force against civilian citizens by assassinating them, all with the benevolent complicity of the Polisario.
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