Washington strongly condemns Polisario’s terrorist acts in Smara
The U.S. mission to the United Nations stated that the violence carried out by the Polisario threatens regional stability and the progress made toward peace, stressing that the current situation cannot continue.
In a strongly worded statement published on its official account on platform X, the U.S. mission to the United Nations condemned the attacks carried out by the Polisario Front in the city of Smara, as the group continues its violations by claiming responsibility for firing several projectiles in the area, in a new breach of international law and a challenge to the international community.
This violation comes at a time when UN efforts are underway to resolve the Moroccan Sahara issue, after the United Nations Security Council held a session a few days ago dedicated to reviewing the strategy related to the mandate of the MINURSO, six months before its expected renewal next October.
The U.S. mission reiterated that the Moroccan autonomy proposal represents the path to peace, stating that “such violence threatens regional stability and the progress made toward peace,” and emphasizing that these actions contradict the spirit of recent discussions.
It noted that “the Moroccan autonomy proposal, as stated in Security Council Resolution 2797, charts the path toward stability in the Moroccan Sahara.”
The mission called on “all those who resist peace to sincerely commit to a brighter future,” stressing that “the time has come to end this 50-year conflict.”
It concluded by stating that “the current situation cannot continue,” clearly indicating that Polisario’s violations and threats to security and stability are no longer acceptable, not only at the regional level but also internationally, suggesting the possibility of firm legislative and legal decisions that Washington may take to put an end to the group’s actions. This escalation also coincides with the African Lion military exercises hosted by Morocco with the participation of several countries, led by the United States.
The Polisario is said to have carried out these attacks in an attempt to disrupt the momentum of international support for the autonomy initiative, with these violations, according to some analyses, reinforcing the credibility of Morocco’s repeated warnings that the group constitutes destabilizing militias.
To expose these violations to the international community, a field delegation from MINURSO traveled to Smara to conduct on-site inspections, examine the impact points of the projectiles fired by the group, assess the nature of these projectiles, and document the details of the incident.
The UN mission also “collected technical data and precise field information on the locations where the projectiles landed, assessed the scale of potential damage, and studied the technical characteristics of the munitions used,” as part of its mandate to monitor compliance with the ceasefire and track security developments in the region.
Several experts and academics told the news site Hespress that these attacks represent “a desperate attempt to disrupt the negotiation process, which is leaning toward a final solution based on autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.”
They added that “through its continued violations of the ceasefire and targeting of civilians, the group strengthens the arguments for its designation as a terrorist organization, particularly in light of U.S. legislative initiatives aimed at placing it on the list of foreign terrorist organizations.”
In the United States, a legislative proposal entitled “The 2026 Polisario Front Terrorist Designation Act” was introduced last March, gaining increasing support in the U.S. Senate from members of both the Republican and Democratic parties.
For his part, former Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani stated on his X account that “this terrorist attack could accelerate the designation of the separatist Polisario Front as a terrorist organization by the international community,” arguing that it would have adverse consequences for its planners.
He added that “the separatist front’s militias issued a statement announcing that they had carried out an attack targeting the outskirts of Smara by launching three projectiles that fell in scattered areas outside the residential perimeter,” noting that “this terrorist attack, the sixth of its kind against the city of Smara, represents a new escalation that undermines international efforts aimed at consolidating calm in the region in order to reach a final political solution to a long-standing conflict.”
