Western Sahara conflict

Western Sahara conflict
Gathering of Saharawi troops, near Tifariti (Western Sahara), celebrating the 32nd anniversary to the Polisario Front (2005).
Date 1970–present (47 years) Location Western Sahara, Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria
Belligerents
Francoist Spain  Morocco  Mauritania (1975–79) Supported by:  France (1977–78)	Polisario Front / SADR Supported by:  Algeria (1976)
Commanders and leaders
Francisco Franco Hassan II Ahmed Dlimi (until 1983) Abdelaziz Bennani Mokhtar Ould Daddah (until 1978) Mustafa Ould Salek (1978-1979) Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah (1980-1984) Valéry Giscard d'Estaing	Mohamed Abdelaziz El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed † Lahbib Ayoub Brahim Ghali Houari Boumediène (until 1978)
Strength
Spain: 3,000 troops (1973) Morocco: 30,000 (1976) – 150,000 (1988) Mauritania: 3,000–5,000 (1976) – 18,000 (1978)	5,000 (1976)
Casualties and losses
unknown; 2,155 – 2,300 captured Mauritania: 2,000 soldiers killed	unknown
Total: 14,000–21,000 killed overall 40,000 (1976) – 80,000 (1977) refugees

 Francoist Spain

Francisco Franco

Spain: 3,000 troops (1973)

unknown; 2,155 – 2,300 captured

Total: 14,000–21,000 killed overall

The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco. The conflict is the continuation of the past insurgency by Polisario against the Spanish colonial forces in 1973–75 and the subsequent Western Sahara War between the Polisario and Morocco (1975–91). Today the conflict is dominated by unarmed civil campaigns of the Polisario Front and their self-proclaimed SADR state to gain fully recognized independence for Western Sahara.

The conflict escalated after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords. Beginning in 1975, the Polisario Front, backed and supported by Algeria, waged a 16-year-long war for independence against Mauritania and Morocco. In February 1976, the Polisario Front declared the establishment of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which was not admitted into the United Nations, but won limited recognition by a number of other states. Following the annexation of Western Sahara by Morocco and Mauritania in 1976, and the Polisario Front's declaration of independence, the UN addressed the conflict via a resolution reaffirming the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people. In 1977, France intervened, as the conflict reached its peak intensity. In 1979, Mauritania withdrew from the conflict and territories, leading to a stalemate through most of the 1980s. After several more engagements between 1989 and 1991, a cease-fire agreement was reached between the Polisario Front and the Moroccan government. At the time, most of the Western Sahara territory remained under Moroccan control, while the Polisario controlled some 20% of the territory in its capacity as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, with additional pockets of control in the Sahrawi refugee camps along the Algerian border. At present, these borders are largely unchanged.

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Wikipedia