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Western Sahara: Moroccan escalation, role of Mauritania and challenges of the Tindouf–Zouerate road

On October 23, 2025, Brahim Ghali, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Secretary-General of the POLISARIO Front, denounced a new Moroccan escalation in Western Sahara: the construction of a 93-kilometer road linking Smara to Mauritania, crossing the sand wall erected by Morocco since the 1980s. According to the UN Secretary-General’s report (S/2025/612), this road constitutes a “second passage” to Mauritania, alongside the Guerguerat corridor.

In a letter addressed to António Guterres, Ghali described the initiative as a “provocative and escalatory measure,” recalling the precedent of Guerguerat in 2016. According to the POLISARIO Front, the “civilian” justification put forward by Rabat hides a political and military logic: every infrastructure south of the wall reinforces the occupation and creates facts on the ground.

A Strategic Moroccan Road Under Civilian Cover

The route from Smara to Bir Moghrein crosses the liberated zone and connects the occupied territory to Mauritania, strengthening Moroccan control and facilitating the transit of goods and vehicles. As with Guerguerat, the road is presented as a civilian project, but its political and military purpose is clear: to normalize the occupation and open new logistical corridors to West Africa.

International silence in the face of this violation of international law — while the European Court of Justice has reaffirmed that Morocco has no sovereignty over Western Sahara — encourages Morocco to continue its policy of creating facts on the ground.

Mauritania: Implicit Complicity or Strategic Choice?

The new corridor also raises questions about Mauritania’s role. Officially neutral in the conflict, Nouakchott included the Bir Moghrein border post in a decree listing the “authorized entry points” for 2025. If confirmed, this move appears to be an implicit alignment with Morocco, effectively legitimizing the occupation and contradicting the African Union’s doctrine, which recognizes the SADR as a full member.

For Algeria and the POLISARIO Front, this posture is concerning: it paves the way for Moroccan expansion in the Sahel-Saharan region and undermines Algerian and Sahrawi logistical corridors, while making Mauritania complicit in a destabilization strategy at the expense of the Sahrawi people and Algerian interests.

The Tindouf–Zouerate Road: An Algerian Economic Instrument

In parallel, Algeria has invested nearly one billion dollars to build a strategic road linking Tindouf to Zouerate in Mauritania. Unlike Moroccan projects, this infrastructure has a clearly economic purpose: to strengthen Algerian exports to West Africa and secure national logistical corridors.

Algeria will under no circumstances allow Moroccan trucks to use this road, and ensures that its funding serves exclusively its economic and strategic interests, guaranteeing full control over transit and commercial activities in this sensitive area.

A Multi-Level Escalation

The opening of the Smara–Mauritania corridor reflects a logic similar to that of Guerguerat: build first, justify later. Each road or border post becomes a tool of gradual occupation, consolidating Moroccan presence in a territory recognized as non-autonomous and awaiting decolonization.

Faced with this reality, Algeria must protect its strategic and economic interests while supporting the Sahrawi people. The billion-dollar investment in the Tindouf–Zouerate road is not just a development project: it is a tool of economic and regional sovereignty, ensuring that Algerian corridors are never used to legitimize Moroccan ambitions.

Conclusion

The Smara–Mauritania road is not a mere civilian project, but a political act aimed at consolidating Moroccan occupation, with Mauritania’s implicit complicity. Algeria, on the other hand, invests to strengthen its exports and strategic presence in the Sahel-Saharan region. Every corridor traced by Algiers is strictly controlled and exclusively intended to serve national interests.

This conflict over roads reveals a strategic confrontation between occupation and sovereignty, where each kilometer of asphalt reflects major geopolitical stakes and the need for Algeria to protect its interests against Moroccan ambitions and regional complacency.

By Belgacem Merbah


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