Moroccan drones serve as deterrence for Algerian-sponsored hit-run tactics
Moroccan actions in Sahara are louder than the separatist and Algerian propaganda. The recent drone operation in which a senior Polisario military commander was killed along his militiaman should act as a deterrent for any miscalculated adventure east of the berm by the Algerian-armed Polisario separatists.
Trained by Algeria to kill Moroccans, the chief of the so-called gendarmerie, Dah Bendir, was gotten rid of through a drone strike, Algerian and Polisario media reported.
Pro-polisario social media is awash with mourning as the separatist leadership reaps desolation since it started miscalculated provocations.
The precise location of the strike is still unknown. Some sources say he was hit in Tifarity while AFP cites Touizgui north of Assa-Zag, where access requires passage through Algerian territories.
The Moroccan army so far has not communicated but officially Moroccan diplomacy made it clear that it will respond firmly to any attack.
The North African Kingdom has for long been operating French, Israeli and US drones, a game changer in modern warfare.
The drone strike has sent shockwaves and serves as a warning for both Algeria and the Polisario that any provocation east of the berm will be met with a technologically painful response.
The deployment of drones also reflects the gap between Morocco’s and the Algeria’s military doctrines. While Morocco emphasizes on technologically advanced weaponry, Algeria and its proxy the Polisario are bogged down in the guerrilla warfare that came to an end with the erection of the berm in the late 1990s.
The more it provokes the more it loses. This is the case of the Polisario which wanted to create a stalemate in the Guerguarat crossing by sending its armed men there to block traffic but finished by being kicked out definitely from the area. The Polisario bragged about ending the ceasefire and resuming attacks east of the berm and ended by being pushed further east to the Algerian border as Morocco extends the security wall.
Morocco is clearly on the defensive but strategically on the offensive as it continues to further strengthen its military positions in tandem with gaining growing international support for its territorial integrity.
