A Moroccan air force helicopter crashed Friday in the disputed Western Sahara, killing two crew members, state news agency MAP reported.
One other person on board was slightly injured in the crash, a military source told MAP, adding that a “technical investigation” had been launched to determine the cause of the incident near the settlement of Tichla.
The Moroccan military has a heavy presence in the swathes of Western Sahara it controls.
It maintains that Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony under its control, is an integral part of its territory.
The Polisario Front, which campaigns for the territory’s independence, demands a referendum on self-determination.
The Polisario Front liberation movement and Morocco fought a war over the region from 1975 to 1991, when a ceasefire deal was agreed and a United Nations (UN) peace mission deployed to monitor the truce in the former Spanish colony.
