On Wednesday morning, a Royal Moroccan Armed Forces drone targeted and bombed two vehicles and a large truck belonging to prospectors from the Tindouf camps in the buffer zone near the Mauritanian border. Sources informed Hespress Online that the attack, which took place in the “Mak” area, did not result in any casualties.
The sources added that Mauritanian prospectors involved in illegal mining activities were also present in the area at the time of the attack. They fled to the Mauritanian interior immediately after the Moroccan drone strike.
In response, the governor of Tiris Zemmour state, located in northern Mauritania, convened an emergency meeting with regional mining unions on Thursday. The governor urged local prospectors to adhere to Mauritania’s territorial integrity.
The sources told Hespress that the governor called for immediate measures to enforce border respect among prospectors and emphasized the need for large-scale awareness campaigns to educate them about these regulations.
This incident is part of a series of similar occurrences over recent years, as both Sahrawi and Mauritanian prospectors have ventured into the buffer zone despite known risks.
According to Hespress sources, some prospectors attempt to evade Moroccan drone surveillance by keeping vehicles away from prospecting sites and avoiding electronic devices that could reveal their location. They also prefer to operate during nighttime to minimize detection.
The sources noted that while the buffer zone was once more accessible for mining and smuggling activities, the Moroccan military’s deployment of drone technology has significantly curtailed these operations.
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