The killing of the Polisario Front's police chief, Addah al-Bendir, supposedly by a Moroccan drone in April marked a further test of the uncertain 30-year-old cease-fire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which has come under increasing strain since November 2020 when an armed dispute over a vital roadway between Morocco and the independence group threatened to turn one of the world's oldest cold wars hot.

Precise details of Bendir's death are hard to pin down, only agreeing that he and an unspecified number of other Polisario officials were killed as a result of a possible Moroccan drone strike to the east of Morocco's 1,700-mile-long sand wall that runs across Western Sahara. Depending on who you believe, he was either retreating after being confronted by Moroccan troops before an attack or returning victorious from a successful strike when the drone struck.

In a further straining of ties, a Spanish court earlier this week summoned Polisario leader Brahim Ghali, who was undergoing medical treatment in Spain, shortly after Moroccan intelligence notified authorities of Ghali's presence in a Spanish hospital.

Like much in the decadeslong dispute between the Polisario Front, Morocco and Algeria, much remains uncertain. Even the number of refugees, or Sahrawi, who have languished in makeshift camps within Algeria since Morocco's Green March of 1975 remains uncertain. Estimations vary, but it's thought that around 173,000 refugees eke out a life under the relatively autonomous control of the Polisario Front. Clustered in desert camps around Tindouf in western Algeria's furthest reaches, 94% of refugee households must rely on foreign aid just to meet the necessities of life. Hunger is an everyday reality for many. With unemployment the norm, jobs are also a premium, with none of the scant pay packets that exist reaching far enough to feed the families they must support.