Equipe Media
El Aaiun, Occupied Western Sahara (May 18, 2024)

On the occasion of the 51st anniversary of the armed struggle for Western Saharan liberation, more than a dozen Sahrawi women held a demonstration today in El Aaiun. However, Moroccan occupation forces swiftly intervened and dispersed the protest shortly after it began.

According to Equipe Media sources, documenting the crackdown proved difficult due to the Moroccan authorities’ tight control over occupied cities. Authorities have been closely monitoring prominent activists to prevent them from mobilizing citizens and expressing their political views.

Morocco has intensified its settlement activities in Western Sahara in recent years, aiming to counter the Sahrawi national movement and alter the region’s demographics in favor of Moroccan settlers.

Sahrawi Republic Anniversary Nears

Next Monday marks the 51st anniversary of the Sahrawi people’s armed struggle against Spanish colonialism, begun on May 20, 1973. This struggle commenced with a military attack on a Spanish garrison in El-Khanga, igniting a war for Western Saharan independence. The proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic on February 27, 1976, further bolstered this fight.