Western Sahara War
From Warlike
Q1093550
The Western Sahara War was an armed conflict between the Sahrawi Indigenous Polisario Front and Morocco from 1975 to 1991, 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, 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. 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. 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.
| Type | Subtype | Date | Description | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| area | region | 1884 | Spanish Sahara | Wikidata | |
| event | armed conflict | Western Sahara conflict | Morocco, armed conflict, Polisario Front | Wikidata | |
| event | armed conflict | 1973 | Sahrawi insurgency | Francoist Spain, Polisario Front, insurgency | Wikidata |
| event | war | 1644 | Char Bouba War | war, Wolof people, Sanhaja, Torodbe, Maqil | Wikidata |
| event | war | 1957 | Ifni War | war, French Fourth Republic, Francoist Spain, Moroccan Army of Liberation | Wikidata |
| event | war | 1975 | Western Sahara War | war | Wikidata |
| commons | image | Destroyed T-55 tank of Polisario front, towed by Moroccan vehicle, circa 1980s. | Commons | ||
| commons | image | M56 Scorpion, Moroccan berm, circa 1986 | Commons | ||
| commons | image | T-55 tank of Polisario front, circa 1980s. | Commons | ||
| commons | image | Destroyed Polisario front tank T-55. | Commons | ||
| commons | image | SAHARAWI FIGHTERS | Commons | ||
| commons | image | 3 destroyed T-55 tanks of Polisario front, western Sahara. | Commons | ||
| commons | image | 3 destroyed T-55 tanks of Polisario front, western Sahara conflict. | Commons | ||
| commons | image | Destroyed BMP-1 APC of polisario front and (presumably) UN peacekeepers. | Commons | ||
| commons | image | US supplied fighters of the Royal Moroccan Air Force | Commons | ||
| commons | image | A portion of the ceinture near Bu Craa | Commons | ||










