AFAIK these Akjoujt mines (still extant) are simple, open cast 'surface scraping/blasting' operations, no?

Same in much of the Sahara like Arlit and Zouerat and Bou Craa and all the salt mines.

It's the whole point. Out there you don't need to dig down with the time, expense and danger, you just keep looking on the surface. Something economically viable will eventually turn up on the desert floor, especially with cheap local labour.

I could be wrong but I have to say I find this talk of tunnels (we heard it before in 2003) and kidnapping tunnel execs a bit on the far side. Choum railway tunnel (the only one in the country?) was, I suspect, a joke...

Funnily enough only the other day I passed on here how many tedious checkpoints there now were on this very road. Clearly not enough.
Anyway, I hope it ends well for the 3 Spanish - and the French guy too.

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Agreed with Chris, kidnapping the director of a tunnel company to use his expertise to build tunnels in the Sahara doesn't make sense to me. More likely they'll ask for a hefty ransom. Just like mlock, I plan to travel this road myself in the near future and this has me concerned! From the photo of the vehicle, it looks like the attack was on the asphalted main road (and that would make sense too, why would they convoy off-road down to Dakar?). Hopefully, it was a targeted attack and us "normal" tourists are still safe...

Yes you said it right, hope to be targeted attack and leave us alone to ride... no matter we leave money to that countries, they want to kill us

Maybe this was a false flag operation that logically would be blamed on others who operate locally. Something bothers me about the reported precision of the operation and selection of high value hostages, who are now being reported as "volunteer workers."???

If it was false flag, and knowing that the search would probably be mostly land oriented, the hostages might have been or might eventually be taken toward the sea, and put aboard a boat, by those perhaps not familiar with the desert. Just an idea.

As laughable as it might seem, and hopefully we will eventually know the facts, I still hold with the idea of some underground structure having played a role in this operation. At this point there is nothing more I can offer except my desire for the survival of the hostages.

Eat, Drink and Be Careful xfiltrate

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If we are to speculate I will simply suggest that the hostages are already in Mali and that it will be a week or two before we hear more from them. Let's hope for the best.
Have the bearded dudes filled their quota yet? Perhaps not. There may be a few more attempts before the season's over.
But the main road through Mauritania should be even safer to travel now than it was before the incident.

""It is true that the desert area is difficult to control," Moratinos has said, "but we are working for the hostages not to travel to another country," referring to neighboring Mali.
Precisely, Moratinos has assured that he had already spoken with the president of Mali, who has initiated the cooperation with us. " As reported by the Spanish minister, the African country has given permission to the Mauritanian authorities "to come into Malian territory under the right of pursuit""

I would not assume it was targeted at an NGO (unless it's a very wealthy NGO) as much as Spanish nationals.

I was waiting for the boat idea to crop up but I read that (6?) EU (or EU-funded) patrol boats run up and down that coast suppressing traffickers heading for the Canaries.

I'll stick my neck out and agree they're in north Mali now or soon. If the '170km-north of NKT' fact is correct, on GE it's right on a wide, fast inter-dune corridor which runs all the way NE over the rails and past Ben Amara. Cut a corner of the PFZ, back into Mori, past Tourine (which they know well...) and so into far north Mali.
Only 1100km and a lot nearer/less risky than doing the same from Tunisia.

Ch

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Mmmmm...... Just pulled into Northern Mali myself last night from Mori on the asphalt. I came down the NDB/NCT road a few days earlier. Phew.

As it was a 3 day holiday in Mori/Maroc/Mali for Eade there was no internet open before I left, but I guess it explains why there were no tourists arriving from the north for my last day at Auberge Menata.

They can checkpoint the road all they like (with quite a few arse holes demanding almost by force a 'present' as was my experience) but there is a whole lot of nothing out there....

But an interesting tidbit though.

On my last trip when I was heading north from 'chott to 'bou, we (two people, one car) decided to pull off and sleep for the night in the national park. I only had the gps for one of the villages by the ocean (starts with a N?) and after seemingly passing it on the asphalt road, we decided to cut across country towards it.

Within 10 minutes we had military/police Toyotas either side of us who were quite mad. They explained they have radar/microwave or something like that over the whole area and our movements had been radioed in to them from 'bou. We were escorted another 20km or so to the park entrance and made to pay (wasn't trying to avoid it, it was getting dark etc)

So some parts of the big nothing clearly have a method of tracking vehicles etc. How close to the park was the kidnapping?

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Kiwi, 7 years around Africa. Overlanding channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/roamingyak

Guess its just hoping not to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Just rode solo through Mauri, also went east. No problems and still alive.
Don't know if its the same convoy but think I overtook them in Morocco on the way south.

Regulator

How long is the drive from Nouadhibou to Nouakchott actually? About 5 or 6 hours I would guess?

edited

The convoy goes from NDB at 15:00. The kidnapping was while they are driving in the darkness !

Oh, that's good news in a way, since I assume it's much more unsafe to drive after dark, and I intend to do all my driving in daylight.

Dear friends,

From my experience, it is very easy to take a vehicle from the NDB-NKT road to Mali without being noticed. A probable route could have been the along the firm corridor between the Azzefal and Akchar dunes, all the way to the southern Western Sahara border. From there its easy to avoid the Adrar Atar massif, by diverting a little to the north and head east already above Fderik. The single police checkpoint is located at Choum, in a flat area, that kidnappers can avoid by driving inside Western Sahara territory.

The single issue would be fuel autonomy. But if they can reach the region of F'derik, fuel would be easily avaialable without stopping at Atar.

Unfortunately, given the time that already as passed, I would tend to assume that the victims might be already in Mali.

I think that it was a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The road is populated by Western vehicles, thus it could had happen to any one....

Cheers,
José

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Desert Crocodiles of Mauritania: http://cibio.up.pt/crocodilos/en

Presuming Aqim is behind, I would think the kidnappers went straight for the border and were out of the country the next day.
Interesting how Mauritania intended to "seal" the Mali border - surely a daunting task.
It says in the article below all borders were closed, also to Morocco. Are they open now?

Kidnapped Spanish aid workers believed held in Mali (Magharebia.com)
"Three Spanish aid workers kidnapped in Mauritania on November 29th are believed to have been moved from Mauritania, and the incident may have scuppered the possibility of talks between imprisoned Salafists and the government.'
...
Following the incident, Mauritania declared a state of maximum alert and sent anti-terrorism units to its desert borders to seal off all outlets for the kidnappers. The borders with Mali, Algeria and Morocco were closed."

war and love

are the

father and mother

of everything

Yes war is also a form of communication. Terrorism too I reckon.
According to a Spanish magazine, the negotiations may come to an end.
Moratinos went to Nouakchott. Aqim want to be compensated for the astonishing amount paid in commission.
Exigen otros 2,5 millones de euros m�s para liberar a los dos voluntarios catalanes - 20minutos.es