Mauritanian gold prospectors seize weapons from Polisario in surprise attack

On Thursday, October 30, a group of Mauritanian gold prospectors launched an attack on a Polisario position east of the Sand Wall. «Armed with light rifles, the group, traveling in five to six vehicles, headed towards Mijek, where the Polisario had deployed some of its armed elements,» a source close to the matter told Yabiladi.

«Caught off guard by the assault, the Polisario members offered no resistance. They abandoned their weapons, mainly Kalashnikovs, to the prospectors, who then returned to Mauritanian territory,» the same source added. The source specified that «the Polisario leadership requested the Mauritanian army's intervention to at least recover the seized weapons.»

This attack follows a series of operations recently carried out by the Polisario against Mauritanian gold prospectors. On September 18, armed elements of the Front abducted several Mauritanian prospectors, prompting the Nouakchott government to intervene for their release.

This incident is not an isolated case. Indeed, on October 20, a Polisario patrol expelled around 100 gold prospectors, mainly Mauritanians, from an area east of the Sand Wall.