Tindouf: Two Young Sahrawis Burnt Alive by Algerian Soldiers
Two young Sahrawis were burned alive Monday night by Algerian soldiers while they were inside a gold trench in southern “Aouinat Belkraa”, 150 km to the Northeast of Rabouni camp which is hosting the Polisario HQ.
The news of this summary execution spread quickly in the five camps of Tindouf which risks to implode at any moment with spontaneous popular protests following this indefensible and unjustified crime committed by Algerian military.
According to Sahrawi opponents’ accounts, the two gold diggers, Mha ould Hamdi ould Soueilem of the Reguibat tribe and Alioune Al Idrissi of the Brabiche tribe who, after hearing shots fired in their direction by the Algerian soldiers, rushed back and refused to come out of the 6-m deep trench, fearing to be killed.
After ducking for cover, the Algerian military poured gasoline into the trench and set fire. They left afterwards the premises without showing remorse or concern over the fate of the two gold diggers who died in the inferno.
Their watchman and material witness to horrendous crime managed to escape on board a 4×4 vehicle. The Polisario leadership has tried, through its media, to exculpate the Algerian army, saying that it was “an accidental fire in an Algerian zone with restricted access to civilians”.
The Polisario leaders blamed the two deceased Sahrawis, saying that instead of complying with the Algerian soldiers orders, they shut themselves inside the trench.
The bodies of the two victims were transferred Monday evening to the so-called “Dakhla” camp wherein anger is building up over this repulsive crime.
If the Polisario leadership does not want to irk its Algerian protectors, NGOs of Sahrawi dissidents and opponents, on the other hand, demanded on Tuesday the opening of an international investigation into this heinous crime.
The poor and jobless young Sahrawis of the Tindouf camps often go to Algerian desert and northeastern Mauritania in search of gold nuggets risking their lives as they are frequently targeted by shots fired by Algerian & Mauritanian soldiers and Polisario militiamen.