Morocco denies ‘attack’ on Algerians in Mauritania

Morocco has denied allegations that it was responsible for the killing of three Algerian citizens in a “bomb attack” on trucks driving between Ouargla in Algeria and Nouakchott in Mauretania. A senior Moroccan source made the denial in the first official response to the allegation that the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces had launched a raid in the neighbouring countries.

According to Al-Arabiya.net, the Moroccan source insisted that this is a “fabrication, which the Mauritanian authorities have already denied.” The official accused Algeria of trying to “fabricate a crisis over the use of drones by Moroccan armed forces,” and stressed that “two Algerian trucks crossed a minefield carrying military equipment for the Polisario Front.”

Algeria backs the Polisario Front, which seeks independence for Western Sahara, the sovereignty of which is claimed by Morocco. The implication is that the trucks hit a mine, killing the three men as a result.

The Algerian presidency, however, has insisted that the trucks were engaged in “normal commercial exchanges between the peoples of the region” at the time of the explosion.

READ: Algeria calls for Morocco withdrawal from Western Sahara buffer area to help reach a deal