The recent attack targeting Moroccan truckers in Mali by an unidentified hooded group in broad daylight has raised several questions. The factual analysis indicates that the case is strategic and political in scope. Who benefits from the crime?
The case of the assassination of two Moroccan truck drivers (and a third injured) shocked the kingdom. It makes several observations because these killed Moroccans were not looted, they were killed by light-skinned men, wearing bulletproof and hooded vests, according to the first elements of the case, and the crime s ‘takes place in a strategic axis of Moroccan trade in Africa. The case has not only a criminal aspect, but also a strategic and political one.
The Algerian track not to be overlooked
And according to the political scientist and specialist in Africa, Mouassaoui Ajlaoui, who answered questions from MoroccoLatestNews FR, the Algerian track cannot be ruled out. Here are the reasons:
“If we look in the relations between the Algerian intelligence services and jihadist groups, we find that all the European secret services affirm that there are links between the two, and in particular through Iyad Ag Ghali, ( a Malian Tuareg jihadist leader) ”.
Ag Ghali is the boss of a cartel, a jihadist group that has pledged allegiance to Al Qaida, recalls our interlocutor, and to indicate that there is also another jihadist group in Mali, namely the Islamic State. in the great sahara (EIGS).
Aqmi (Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, editor’s note) has become a branch of Nousrat al Islam wa lmouslimine (Support group for Islam and Muslims known by the acronym GSIM) of Iyad Ag Ghali. And, the Islamic State, Daesh, counts among its leaders former executives of the Polisario (the separatist movement in the Sahara, created and supported by Algeria against the territorial integrity of Morocco in the aftermath of the end of the colonization of the ‘Spain).
According to Mouassaoui Ajlaoui, the involvement of Algeria via the Polisario is possible because if it is Daesh which signed the assassination of the Moroccan truck drivers, “this refers directly to Abou Walid Sahraoui”, a Moroccan native of Laayoune who joined the Polisario separatist camp in Tindouf, Algeria.
The latter “went through the Polisario youth group, before we found him in 2012 on the Al Jazeera television channel and there he spoke on behalf of the Tawhid wa ljihad movement. Then he brought together all the elders of the Polisario to create the Islamic State in the greater Sahara, an organization affiliated with Daesh ”.
“Are there any links between this organization of Walid Al Sahraoui with the Polisario movement which obey the orders of Algeria to orchestrate this murder?” The question remains open and it is a track to be taken into consideration and we must dig in this direction to see if there is a relationship between the three ”, launched the specialist.
And to affirm that “what is certain is that the Europeans affirm that the Algerians are those who protect Iyad Ag Ghali”, noting an interest carried for the Malian file by Algeria.
Indeed, in recent months, the Malian file has returned with insistence in the words of the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, each time he made a speech, gave an interview while speaking of Foreign Affairs, when this file was abandoned by the Algerian power for years.
“Those who assassinated the Moroccan truck drivers are all enemies of Morocco who do not want it to create and maintain relations in Africa in the south of the Sahara,” said the specialist in Africa.
Food security in the threatened region
The case has three components, it aims at a strategic objective which is explained by an attempt at intimidation targeting Morocco, a criminal component and it concerns the Malian authorities who are asked to conduct their investigation, collect testimonies and all the information related to the case, and finally a political dimension since this killing affects Morocco’s political presence on the African continent.
While Morocco has asked the Malian authorities to investigate to determine the responsibilities and find the perpetrators of the crime, “it should also turn to the African Union and the United Nations Security Council because this matter concerns security. and the stability of the region ”, declared our interlocutor.
Morocco must “demand a serious investigation to find out which are the real parties who ordered and carried out this crime”, adding that the Minusma (the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali) has a section devoted to investigations into this kind of crime. crimes and she will be able to investigate neutrally.
“We must not forget that Morocco ensures food security for the countries of West Africa. If the trade route linking Morocco to Nouakchott (trade hub in Africa, editor’s note) there will certainly be a food crisis in the region, ”our interlocutor underlined, referring to the strategic dimension of this slaughter.
The perpetrators of the attack sought to “punish all the West African countries which have opened consulates in Laayoune and Dakhla in the Sahara”, he said. Those who signed this double assassination “are against the opening up of Morocco to the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, they hate the weight that Morocco has in our continent”.
And to recall that the head of Algerian diplomacy openly threatened Morocco by announcing the rupture of diplomatic relations between the two countries. “The killing comes when there is no state in Algeria. There is an extension of the absence of the State, of the functions of this State, supposed to manage the daily affairs, of the citizens ”, explains Mr. Ajlaoui.
“The Algerian state is unable to meet the needs of Algerian citizens in terms of food, bread has reached exorbitant prices, there is a shortage of milk, oxygen, medicines, even cars have been banned. ‘importation’, he enumerates, affirming that the new Algerian state under the orders of President Tebboune “explains everything by aggression and by the security approach, hence the increase in arrests, even targeting generals”.
The Algerian state “tries to export this internal malaise and this instability by attacking the neighborhood, in particular the closest neighbor, Morocco, because it is the complete opposite of Algeria”, where the generals plundered the country’s wealth, offered second homes in the most expensive capitals of Europe and impoverished the country’s finances with large military contracts.
“Of course we have our own problems, but citizens have access to water, vaccines, milk is sold everywhere, bread is the same, there are road structures, the TGV, air links have been re-established and the price of tickets are cheaper than in Algeria etc. and this is what creates this frustration and this complex among the Algerian leaders ”.
According to Mr. Ajlaoui, while “people talk about reconciliation between the two countries, it is very difficult to talk about this as long as the state functions are absent in Algeria, there will always be a tense relationship”, and that manifested itself with the hateful speeches of the Algerian president in the foreign press, the military movements at the borders, the prohibitions of commercial links with Morocco, the Moroccan farmers driven out manu militari in Jerada, the refusal of the outstretched hand of the King, the refusal of Moroccan aid.
“It is therefore not to be excluded that one of the parties in Algeria is behind what happened in Mali,” said Moussaoui Ajlaoui.
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