Ifni War

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ifni War" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Ifni War
Part of the Decolonisation of Africa
Borders of the Ifni territory before and after the war.
Date 23 October 1957 – 30 June 1958 (8 months and 1 week) Location Ifni, Spanish Sahara, Morocco Result Franco−Spanish military victory[1][2][3][4] Moroccan political victory[5] Treaty of Angra de Cintra[6] Territorial changes Areas of Ifni annexed by Morocco Cape Juby strip retroceded to Morocco by Spain Sidi Ifni retained by Spain until 1969
Belligerents
Spain West Africa France (1958) Mauritania	Morocco Liberation Army Allied Sahrawi tribes
Commanders and leaders
Francisco Franco	Ben Hammu
Strength
15,300 men 10,300 Spanish troops 5,000 French troops 150 aircraft	30,000 men[7]
Casualties and losses
190 dead 500 wounded 80 missing[6]	800–1,000 dead[6]
7 civilian deaths

Part of a series on the
Western Sahara conflict
Background
Spanish Sahara Greater Morocco Greater Mauritania Moroccan Army of Liberation Movement for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Wadi el Dhahab Polisario Front Sahrawi National Union Party Madrid Accords Partition agreement
Regions
Saguia el-Hamra Río de Oro Southern Provinces Tiris al-Gharbiyya Free Zone
Politics
Annexation of Western Sahara Political status of Western Sahara Foreign relations of Morocco Makhzen Politics of the SADR Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs
Clashes
Ifni War Zemla Intifada Western Sahara War First Intifada Independence Intifada Gdeim Izik Arab Spring protests 2020–present clashes Timeline
Issues
Refugees camps Sahrawi nationality Green March Moroccan settlers Moroccan Wall Human rights
Peace process
UN resolutions UN visiting mission UN referendum mission ICJ Advisory Opinion Settlement Plan Houston Agreement Baker Plan Manhasset negotiations Autonomy Proposal
v t e

The Ifni War, sometimes called the Forgotten War in Spain (la Guerra Olvidada), was a series of armed incursions into Spanish West Africa by Moroccan insurgents that began in October 1957 and culminated with the abortive siege of Sidi Ifni.

The city of Sidi Ifni had been ceded to the Spanish Empire in 1860 at the end of the Hispano-Moroccan War. After Morocco achieved independence in 1956, it sought to claim Spain's remaining possessions in West Africa. Violent demonstrations against Spanish rule broke out in Ifni in April 1957, and in October Moroccan militias began converging near the territory. Moroccan forces attacked in November, forcing the Spanish to abandon most of the territory and retreat to a defensive perimeter around Ifni. Supplied by the Spanish Navy from the sea, the Spanish garrison was able to resist the siege, which lasted into June 1958. In Spanish Sahara, Moroccan units, now reorganised as the Moroccan Army of Liberation, engaged in heavy fighting with Spanish forces at El Aaiún and Edchera. By February 1958, a joint Spanish and French offensive had driven the Moroccans out of Spanish Sahara.

Hostilities ceased in April 1958 (although small skirmishes still occurred) with the Treaty of Angra de Cintra, signed by the Spanish and Moroccan governments, by which Cape Juby and most of the Ifni territory were transferred to Morocco. The city of Sidi Ifni remained in Spanish possession until 1969, when, under international pressure, it was relinquished to Morocco.