Mauritanian gold miners flee after Moroccan drone bombs automobiles in border space

A drone belonging to the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces bombed, on Tuesday night time, two automobiles belonging to Mauritanian gold prospectors who had entered the demilitarized zone within the desert, 55 kilometers from the Mauritanian district of Fderik, situated within the Tiris Zemmour border area.

The supply talked about that “the bombing did not result in any casualties,” including that “the Mauritanian prospectors in the two vehicles that crossed the border fled upon hearing the sound of the Moroccan military drone.”

The concern of Mauritanian prospectors crossing the Moroccan-Mauritanian border is a major concern for each the casual mining unions and the authorities in Mauritania.

Hespress had beforehand realized from Mauritanian union sources that “mining unions are preparing to hold a meeting with authorities to discuss the imposition of punitive measures against prospectors who cross the border.”

Union leaders within the sector have referred to as on the very best authorities within the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, to construct a sand wall and arrange army checkpoints alongside the open border with Morocco to regulate the actions of the prospectors and curb the infiltration of Polisario Front parts into Mauritanian territory.

Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Hassan, president of the General Union of Mauritanian Prospectors, instructed Hespress that “the ongoing actions of local prospectors on the border are causing great embarrassment to the government in Nouakchott, which has repeatedly urged these prospectors to respect territorial sovereignty and limit their mining activities to Mauritanian lands.” He argued that “poverty, unemployment, and religious fatwas that deny the existence of borders between Islamic countries are among the factors that explain the involvement of prospectors in these risky, ill-considered ventures.”