UN Urges Calm as Morocco-Polisario Clashes Escalate at Sahara Border Crossing

Responding to a question during a press conference at UN headquarters on the resurgence of tensions between Morocco and the Polisario, Stéphane Dujarric, the official spokesman for the United Nations, stated that MINURSO was still present in the Sahara, including at the Guerguerat crossing, where exchanges of fire continue between the Moroccan Armed Forces (FAR) and Polisario militiamen.

He said the "United Nations was receiving reports of sporadic gunfire along the northern and eastern parts of the berm or wall." "The shelling often took place at night," Mr. Dujarric specified, before assuring that the MINURSO mission continued to "contact all relevant stakeholders."

"The message from the Organization remains the same, the parties must take all necessary measures to defuse tensions and remove all obstacles to the resumption of the political process," the UN spokesman recalled.