Morocco has placed its army on high alert to repel any attempt at altering the status of the Sahara buffer zone after the Polisario announced moving the command of its militias and so called parliament to Bir Lahlou area, east of the Morocco-built security wall. Moroccan papers are speaking of the fog of war that looms in the Sahara because of the Polisario’s repetitive provocations east of the Moroccan berm in the Sahara. Ground troops of the Royal Armed Forces have also been asked to prepare to deter any aggression by the Polisario, which has increased its banditry in the buffer zone. Morocco’s foreign minister has previously denounced the UN’s laxity with the Polisario’s repetitive violations of the 1991 ceasefire agreement and warned that the kingdom’s patience has limits, saying that self-defense remains a legitimate option. Morocco handed the buffer zone east of the security wall to the UN mission in the Sahara MINURSO by virtue of the 1991 agreement for ceasefire monitoring purposes.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 04, 2018 10:07 UTC