ALGIERS: Three members of Western Saharan independence group the Polisario Front, including the son of the organization’s longtime leader Mohamed Abdelaziz, were killed while staging an attack on a Moroccan defense wall, the group announced.
Lehbib Mohamed Abdelaziz, a member of the Polisario’s secretariat, “fell on the field of honor,” according to a statement released on Sunday by the Sahrawi news agency SPS.
His father Mohamed Abdelaziz was the historical leader of the Polisario and the president of the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) from its proclamation in 1976 until his death in 2016.
The Polisario announced three days of mourning in the wake of Lehbib Mohamed Abdelaziz’s death on Sunday.
The 37-year-old officer was killed during an operation against the Moroccan defense system in Western Sahara, the group said, without specifying the identities of the three others killed.
Spanish media reported that a drone strike attributed to Morocco took place in the area east of the wall.
Dubbed the Sand Wall, the enormous fortified structure that divides Western Sahara along 2,700 kilometers (about 1,700 miles) was erected by Morocco between 1980 and 1987 to prevent incursions by pro-independence fighters.
The vast, mineral-rich former Spanish colony of Western Sahara is largely controlled by Morocco but has been claimed for decades by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.
The Polisario resumed its armed struggle in 2020, after nearly 30 years of a ceasefire.
Last October, with the backing of the Trump Administration in Washington, the United Nations Security Council voted in favor of a Moroccan plan to extend sovereignty over the territory while granting it autonomy.
