A Polisario fighter sits on a rock at a forward base on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. At a rocky outpost in Western Sahara, a new generation of soldiers who have never known war are mobilising as tensions resurface in one of Africa's oldest disputes after a quarter century of uneasy peace. Young Sahrawi troops man new desert posts for the Polisario Front, which for more than 40 years has sought independence for the vast desert region - first in a guerrilla war against Morocco and then politically since a ceasefire deal in 1991. Now a standoff with Morocco, which controls the majority of Western Sahara, is renewing pressure for a diplomatic solution to ensure foot soldiers don't return to fighting as the last generation of commanders once did. The standoff since August has brought Moroccan and Polisario forces within 200 metres of each other in a narrow strip of land near the Mauritanian border. Rich in phosphate, Western Sahara has been contested since 1975 when Spanish colonial powers left. Morocco claimed the territory and fought the 16-year war with Polisario. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





An indigenous Sahrawi woman walks at a refugee camp of Boudjdour during a sand storm in Tindouf, southern Algeria, September 10, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





A Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic flag flies at an indigenous Sahrawi refugee camp of Boudjdour, during a sand storm in Tindouf, southern Algeria September 10, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Grafitti which reads, “We demand the dismantling of the wall of shame”, is seen at an indiginous Sahrawi refugee camp of Boudjdour in Tindouf, southern Algeria September 7, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





The word Polisario is seen on the ground in Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





An indigenous Sahrawi man walks at a refugee camp of Boudjdour Tindouf, southern Algeria, September 7, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Saleh Sidi Ahmed, 56, a soldier with the Western Sahara Polisario forces, walks near the ruins of a house bombed by the disputed region war with Morocco more than 25 years ago in Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 8, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





A tent belonging to an indigenous Sahrawi family stands in Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 8, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Sidi Brahim Mohamed Embarek talks to Reuters journalists as he stands beside the wreckage of a Moroccan air force F-5, which was shot down by the Polisario in a 1991 battle in the Western Sahara war, in Tifariti, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Indigenous Sahrawi people sit on a pick-up truck as they drive towards Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 8, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





A 5-day-old western Sahrawi child is seen at the only hospital in Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 8, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





An indigenous Sahrawi man walks outside the only hospital in Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 8, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Mohamed Maloud Ahmed Bakita, 86, a former Western Sahara Polisario soldier, sits inside his family tent as he talks with Reuters journalists about the battle where he lost an eye fighting Moroccan troops more than two decades ago in Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 8, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





An indiginous Sahrawi woman sits inside her tent in Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 8, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Hamuya Khalil, 49, a Polisario fighter, stands in an armored vehicle at a forward base on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Sidi Ahmed Brahim, 25, a fighter who joined the Polisario forces last year, speaks to Reuters journalists at a forward base on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





A rocket is pictured near an earth wall that separates areas controlled by Morocco and the Polisario Front in Western Sahara, September 10, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Barra Mebarak, 22, a fighter who joined the Polisario forces in 2012, is seen at a forward base on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Second sector commander Sidi Waghal (3rd L) speaks to his officers at the forces base on the outskirts of Tifariti, in Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





The Polisario Front officer prays at the grave of the late Western Sahara's Polisario Front President Mohammed Abdelaziz in Bir Lahlou, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





A Moroccan tank which was downed by the Polisario Front during their battles with Morocco's army is seen in Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Moroccan soldiers are seen on an earth wall that separates areas controlled by Morocco and the Polisario Front in Western Sahara, September 10, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





A helicopter belonging to the Minurso (U.N. mission in Western Sahara) flies over the Polisario second sector forward base on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Polisario Front soldiers stand at an entrance of the fifth sector base in Bir Lahlou, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Mohamed al Wali, 65, a Polisario fighter, stands next to a Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic flag at a forward base on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





Moroccan soldiers are seen on an earth wall that separates areas controlled by Morocco and the Polisario Front in Western Sahara, September 10, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)





The Polisario Front soldiers drive a pick-up truck mounted with an anti-aircraft weapon during sunset in Bir Lahlou, Western Sahara, September 9, 2016. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)