Morocco under fire for deadly camp raid

Moroccan officials raised the death toll from a police raid on a Western Sahara refugee camp to 12 late Thursday, after the death of a young demonstrator injured during the violence.

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"A young person among the demonstrators succumbed to his wounds Thursday evening," an official told AFP.

Brahim Daoudi was among four people injured when security forces moved in to break up the camp on Monday, the source added.

Moroccan officials say that 10 of those killed in the clashes were members of the security forces.

But the government has been accused by human rights activists of a crime against humanity, after live ammunition, tear gas and water cannon were reportedly used to clear the camp.

Western Sahara was annexed by Morocco after Spanish settlers withdrew in 1975, but the Polisario Front, which opposes Moroccan rule in Western Sahara, fought the Moroccan presence until the United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991.

The Polisario Front wants a UN-organised referendum on self-determination, with independence as one of the options. Morocco has so far rejected any proposal that goes beyond greater autonomy.

The third round of informal talks between the Polisario Front and Morocco on Western Sahara's future ended Tuesday near New York with both sides only agreeing to meet again in December.

Authorities try to force 12,000 from camp

Earlier, the Polisario Front, said at least 11 people had died in the raid to clear 12,000 refugees from the protest camp, at least some of them civilians.

Another 723 were injured and 159 went missing after the attack near Laayoune, the main town in the former Spanish territory annexed by Rabat, the Polisario said Tuesday.

Morocco announced on Wednesday that its forces had arrested 163 people, but denied reports that a Sahrawi independence activist had disappeared.

Human rights group Amnesty International urged Moroccan authorities to launch an independent probe into the raid.

"This was clearly a very serious incident and one that threatens to fuel further tension in Western Sahara," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"The Moroccan authorities must launch an immediate, independent inquiry and get to the bottom of what occurred and consider asking the UN to assist."




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Source: AFP

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