Unlike festivities held in 2018, the Polisario Front celebrated the 46th anniversary of its first armed struggle on the quiet. The Polisario Front commemorated, Monday, the 46th anniversary of the outbreak of its first armed struggle in May 20, 1973. Surprisingly, the event was celebrated without the organization of military parades and exercises. According to the Front's news platforms, only a reception was held during the evening to pay tribute to some Sahrawi soldiers. This reception was attended by Brahim Ghali. This year, the official commemoration of the event was held at the «Dakhla Camp», located near the Tindouf camps. The locality, which is sparsely populated, was chosen by the Front's leadership to avoid problems. Indeed, the Tindouf camps were home, in the recent months, to a series of protests. Sahrawis in the camps protest against Algerian restrictions imposed to limit their freedom of movement. The festivities in the Dakhla Camp were attended by the Front's «Prime Minister» Mohamed El Ouali Akik who spoke to the crowds in a covered hall. The official threatened, in his speech, to resume armed struggle against Morocco. «Despite the ceasefire signed by the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco in September 1991, the war is not over», he argued. Nothing to do with the festivities of 2018 For the record, on May 20, 2018, the Polisario celebrated the outbreak of its first armed struggle, organizing major military parades in Tifariti. Representatives from some African Union and Latin American countries that recognize «SADR» were invited. The events held in 2018 in Tifariti were meant to discredit the United Nations' mediating attempts and handling of the territorial dispute. In only a year, the Polisario changed a lot in its way of celebrating the annual event. «The political situation in Algeria has probably played a major role in changing the choices of the Polisario», a well-informed source told Yabiladi. «Moving thousands of Sahrawis from the Tindouf camps with tanks and vehicles and bringing guests from abroad require financial means and Algeria is too busy for that», the same source added.
