Amid continued official silence from the Polisario following the killing of a Sahrawi gold prospector in the «Dakhla» camp in Tindouf yesterday by the Algerian army, the camps are experiencing a rising wave of popular unrest, according to pro-separatist sources. The same sources report that «The tragedy of the Sahrawi citizen's death, who was prospecting to make a living, has sparked a wave of anger among many Sahrawis in various communities». Numerous social media users have shared recordings via WhatsApp of grieving women pleading with the Sahrawi leadership, which has yet to take action or provide an official account of what happened. A video posted on social media shows Sahrawis protesting against members of the Algerian army who stormed the camp, with one protester threatening an Algerian soldier, stating they would turn to Morocco. Members of the Algerian army had opened fire after chasing Sahrawis inside the Dakhla camp, resulting in the deaths of two individuals, one of whom was of Mauritanian nationality, and injuring about ten others with varying degrees of severity. This operation against Sahrawi gold prospectors is not the first of its kind. In April 2024, Algerian soldiers killed three gold prospectors in the «Dakhla camp». In October 2020, two other residents of the Tindouf camps were burned alive by Algerian soldiers while digging a well about seven meters deep in search of precious metal.
