Spanish Newspaper “La Vanguardia” Warns: Europe Under Increasing Terrorist Threat Linked to Polisario Front Members

ALDAR/

Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia revealed in a report the growing concern within European intelligence services—especially in Spain—regarding what it described as “a growing terrorist threat linked to the Polisario Front,” calling for the entity to be listed among terrorist organizations.

According to the report, Spanish intelligence sources confirmed that Spain and Europe are facing a real threat from two terrorist groups operating freely in the unstable Sahel region: the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP). The latter’s high command reportedly includes radical Sahrawi elements, some of whom grew up in the Tindouf camps and received Spanish education and cultural exposure through the “Holidays in Peace” program, which allows children from the camps to spend summers in Spain.

The newspaper stated that these individuals speak fluent Spanish, facilitating their integration into society and enabling them to mobilize “lone wolves” to carry out terrorist attacks on European soil—prompting heightened alerts within counterterrorism circles.

It further noted that these terrorist groups intensified their attacks this week on military camps in Mali and Burkina Faso, coinciding with Eid al-Adha. Security officials believe these groups are capable of gaining full control over rural areas, which could eventually allow them to seize capitals such as Bamako, Ouagadougou, and Niamey—mirroring what previously occurred in Damascus and Kabul.

The report also pointed out that Europe’s focus on the war in Ukraine has distracted it from the latent danger along its southern borders. Terrorist groups in the Sahel have adopted a deceptive strategy, claiming they would not target Europe as long as it refrained from intervening in the region. This strategy led the European Union to withdraw its last forces from the area, including a Spanish unit that was the final one to leave.

However, the situation has now changed, according to the same source. Spanish intelligence considers the current phase “critical,” as the region may turn into a launchpad for terrorist attacks against the West.

Despite these threats, La Vanguardia reported that both Al-Qaeda and ISIS in the Sahel are currently facing leadership crises, which have hampered their ability to recruit new members and coordinate attacks. Their capacity to produce effective propaganda has also diminished since the collapse of the so-called “caliphate” in Syria.

Nonetheless, what raises major concern is the possibility that these groups could smuggle terrorists through human trafficking networks, embedding them among migrant waves headed to Europe—making detection and prevention efforts significantly more difficult.

In conclusion, the report calls for a firm response to the threat posed by “extremist Sahrawi fighters” within the Islamic State – West Africa Province, urging the international community to classify the Polisario Front as a terrorist organization due to the involvement of its members in orchestrating and leading operations that directly threaten Europe’s security.