Shootouts between drug trafficking groups amid refugees in the Tindouf camps

The Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf (Algeria) are the scene of intense shootings between drug mafias.

According to images recorded yesterday and today and eyewitness accounts, intense clashes with automatic weapons took place yesterday and this morning in the Aaiun camp, just 8 kilometers northeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf. 

Tiroteos entre grupos de narcotraficantes en medio de los refugiados de los campamentos de Tinduf https://t.co/TtZBv9RZB5 a través de @Atalayar_ pic.twitter.com/fkhIN2gydt

— Javier F. Arribas (@javifarri) April 26, 2025

The inhabitants of the camp, mostly women and children, continue to shout for help, calling for an end to the fighting and demanding the intervention of the authorities.

So far, it is not known whether there have been any fatalities, although there have been injuries during the clashes, which began yesterday afternoon and resumed this morning.

The Polisario forces are overwhelmed and unable to stop the advance of the gangs, who yesterday and today displayed heavy automatic weapons. For this reason, the MSP is urgently calling on the Algerian authorities and the MINURSO peacekeepers stationed in Tindouf to intervene to stop the spiral of violence before it causes civilian casualties among the refugees.

This is not the first time that such clashes have taken place in the Sahrawi refugee camps, where drug mafias have been swarming and fighting for control for years.