Two Saharawi miners reportedly burned alive by Algerian soldiers

PERSISMA, Rabat – Algerian soldiers have reportedly burned two Sahrawi gold diggers alive. The third, who served as their guard, fled before the arrival of an Algerian patrol on the spot.

The tragedy occurred on Monday in the Dakhla camp, located 200 km away from the Tindouf camps. Scared of getting arrested by Algerian soldiers, the men hide inside the seven-meter-deep pit in which they were digging. After seizing the equipment left behind by the gold diggers and a few bottles of water, the soldiers allegedly sprayed the place with gasoline and set it on fire.

Surrounded by flames, the two Sahrawis requested the assistance of the soldiers in order to rescue them. However, the Algerians are said to have left.

Following this macabre incident, the Tindouf camps were put on alert in anticipation of any demonstration denouncing the said criminal act in cold blood.

And, this criminal act  coincides with a context of chaos where the voices of human rights defenders are rising more and more against this kind of barbaric practice.

This incident is not the first of its kind. In 2014, an Algerian army patrol killed Sahrawi traders without eliciting the slightest reaction from the Polisario.