Laurence Dollimore
HUNDREDS of Spaniards are at risk of an ‘imminent’ terrorist attack, government sources have warned.
Spain’s Foreign Ministry warned against travel to the Saharawi refugee camps in Tindouf (Algeria), yesterday, after reportedly receiving information from ‘reliable sources’ about an attack ‘in an advanced state of readiness’.
The attack is reportedly targeting Spanish citizens who work in the camps and is believed to have been planned by the Islamic State of the Grand Sahara (ISIS-GS).
The terror cell, led by Adnan Abu Ualid al Saharaui, has already killed more than 100 people in several attacks this month.
However it is not just the more than 100 Spanish NGO workers at risk.
Under the decades-old Vacations in Peace programme, some 4,000 Saharawi children between the ages of eight and 12 stay with families in Spain in July and August.
La creciente inestabilidad en el norte de #Mali y el consiguiente incremento de actividad de los grupos terroristas en la región pueden afectar a la seguridad en la zona en que se encuentran los campamentos saharauis del #Tinduf. Se desaconsejan los desplazamientos en dicha zona.
— Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, UE y Cooperación (@MAECgob) November 27, 2019
However many of these families decide to visit these children’s families in Tindouf during the November and Christmas period.
This Saturday, some 320 Spaniards are set to arrive to Tindouf.
The warning given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reads: “The growing instability in northern Mali and the consequent increase in terrorist activity in the region may affect the area in which the Saharawi camps in Tinduf are located, for this reason, travelling to these areas is not advised.”
But according to El Pais, the the threat of an attack is ‘real, concrete and close’ and based on ‘reliable sources’ from the intelligence services working in the area.
