Sand War

Sand War
Date September 25, 1963 – February 20, 1964 (4 months, 3 weeks and 5 days) Location The former French Algeria's département of Saoura (present-day Tindouf and Béchar Provinces, Algeria) Result Military stalemate The closing of the border south of Figuig, Morocco/Béni Ounif, Algeria. Morocco abandoned its intentions to control Bechar and Tindouf after OUA mediation. No territorial changes were made. DMZ established
Belligerents
Morocco	Algeria  Egypt  Cuba
Commanders and leaders
King Hassan II Gen.	Pres. Ahmed Ben Bella Efigenio Ameijeiras
Casualties and losses
39 dead, 57 captured or 200 dead	60 dead, 250 wounded or 300 dead, 379 captured

Military stalemate

The Sand War or Sands War (Arabic: حرب الرمال‎‎ ḥarb ar-rimāl) was a border conflict between Algeria and Morocco in October 1963. It resulted largely from the Moroccan government's claim to portions of Algeria's Tindouf and Béchar provinces. The Sand War led to a heightened tensions between the two countries for several decades. It was also notable for a short-lived Cuban and Egyptian military intervention on behalf of Algeria, and for ushering in the first multinational peacekeeping mission carried out by the Organization of African Unity.

Three factors contributed to the outbreak of this conflict: the absence of a precise delineation of the border between Algeria and Morocco, the discovery of important mineral resources in the disputed area, and the Moroccan irredentism fueled by the Greater Morocco ideology of the Istiqlal Party and Allal al-Fassi.

Before French colonization of the region in the nineteenth century, part of south and west Algeria were under Moroccan influence and no border was defined. In the Treaty of Lalla Maghnia (March 18, 1845), which set the border between French Algeria and Morocco, it is stipulated that "a territory without water is uninhabitable and its boundaries are superfluous" the border is delineated over only 165 km. Beyond that there is only one border area, without limit, punctuated by tribal territories attached to Morocco or Algeria.

In the 1890s, the French administration and military called for the annexation of the Touat, the Gourara and the Tidikelt, a complex that had been part of the Moroccan Empire for many centuries prior to the arrival of the French in Algeria.

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