Algeria uses Polisario militias to unsettle Mauritania

A recent report has raised concerns over the militarization in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps in southwestern Algeria, accusing both Algiers and the Polisario of destabilizing acts targeting Mauritanian territory.

The so-called Dakhla camp is being used as a logistical hub for Polisario military operations, a report on Le360 said.

The camp’s proximity to the Mauritanian border has allowed for increased infiltration and destabilizing activities in the region, including all sorts of trafficking in connivance with terrorist groups acting in the wider Sahel.

In response to these developments, Mauritania has closed a key border crossing near the camp, disrupting supply routes used by the Polisario and signaling a shift in its traditionally neutral stance.

The move is seen as a direct response to growing security concerns and a desire to distance itself from Algeria’s regional maneuvers.

The report also alleges that the corridor between Tindouf and the buffer zone in the Sahara territory is being used to smuggle weapons, some of Iranian origin, into Polisario-controlled areas.

These activities are said to bypass the oversight of the United Nations Mission in the Sahara (MINURSO), which has faced disruptions by the Polisario in carrying out its ceasefire mission.

This new harassment by the Algeria-sponsored Polisario is a déjà vu for Mauritanian authorities. With Algiers military backing, Mauritania had suffered attacks in the 1970s and 1980s by the Polisario, waged from its rear base in Tindouf.