Western Sahara War | |||||||||
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Part of the Arab Cold War and Western Sahara conflict | |||||||||
Map of the Western Sahara; the red line is the military military berm built by Morocco | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Morocco Mauritania (1975–1979) Minor involvement: France (1977–1978, aid from 1978) |
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Minor involvement: Algeria (1976,[1] aid from 1976) | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Hassan II (Supreme Commander and Chief-of-Staff) Ahmed Dlimi Abdelaziz Bennani Mohamed Abrouk Housni Benslimane Hammou Arzaz Mokhtar Ould Daddah Mustafa Ould Salek Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya Mohamed Ould Bah Ould Abdelkader Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (President and Commander-in-Chief) Michel Claude Forget |
Mohamed Abdelaziz El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed † Brahim Ghali Lahbib Ayoub Mohamed Lamine Uld Bujari Mohamed Ali El Admi Houari Boumediene Lounes Arib | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
30,000 (1976)[6] 60,000 (1980)[7] 150,000 (1988)[8] 120,000 (1991)[9] 3,000[10]–5,000[6] (1976) 12,000 (1977)[10] 18,000 (1978)[11] |
5,000 (1976)[12] 15,000 (1980)[7] 8,000 (1988)[8] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Unknown; 2,155[13]–2,300 captured[14] 2,000 soldiers killed[15] | Unknown | ||||||||
Civilian Casualties: More than 3,000 Sahrawis killed (Eckhardt,1985)[16] 3 West German pilots killed[17] 853+ (Project Disappeared)[18] – 1,500 (International Federation of Human Rights)[19] Sahrawis missing 40,000 (1976)[20] – 80,000 (1977)[21] Sahrawis displaced Estimated death toll: 10,000–20,000[22] |
The Western Sahara War (Arabic: حرب الصحراء الغربية, French: Guerre du Sahara occidental, Spanish: Guerra del Sáhara Occidental) was an armed struggle between the Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991 (and Mauritania from 1975 to 1979), being the most significant phase of the Western Sahara conflict. The conflict erupted after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords (signed under the pressure of the Green March), by which it transferred administrative control of the territory to Morocco and Mauritania, but not sovereignty. In late 1975, the Moroccan government organized the Green March of some 350,000 Moroccan citizens, escorted by around 20,000 troops, who entered Western Sahara, trying to establish a Moroccan presence.[23] While at first met with just minor resistance by the Polisario Front, Morocco later engaged a long period of guerrilla warfare with the Sahrawi nationalists. During the late 1970s, the Polisario Front, desiring to establish an independent state in the territory, attempted to fight both Mauritania and Morocco. In 1979, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict after signing a peace treaty with the Polisario Front.[24] The war continued in low intensity throughout the 1980s, though Morocco made several attempts to take the upper hand in 1989–1991. A cease-fire agreement was finally reached between the Polisario Front and Morocco in September 1991. Some sources put the final death toll between 10,000 and 20,000 people.[22]
The conflict has since shifted from military to civilian resistance. A peace process, attempting to resolve the conflict has not yet produced any permanent solution to Sahrawi refugees and territorial agreement between Morocco and the Sahrawi Republic. Today most of the territory of Western Sahara is under Moroccan occupation, while the inland parts are governed by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, managed by the Polisario Front.[25]
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