Sand war between the Algerian and Moroccan armies

The war of the Sands is an armed conflict and war that broke out between Morocco and Algeria in October of 1963 due to border problems, almost a year after the independence of Algeria and after several months of skirmishes on the border between the two countries. The open war broke out in the suburbs of the White Tindouf and Hassi districts, then spread to the Moroccan jaws and lasted for a few days. The fighting stopped on November 5, as it ended with the mediation of the Arab League and the organization of African unity, the African organization established a final ceasefire agreement on February 20, 1964, in the city of Bamako, the capital of the state of Mali, but it left a chronic tension in Moroccan-Algerian relations, the effects of which are still present today.

The problem of the southern border between Morocco and Algeria arose in 1963 when the Moroccan authorities wanted to recover the Tindouf and Bashar regions from Algerian territory, as Morocco began claims to expand within these areas, in addition to lands belonging to Algeria and Mauritania. Paris did not heed the Moroccan demands, and in 1957 it initiated the adoption of a new administrative system for the Sahara and proposed to Morocco to start negotiations to resolve the border problem of returning those areas to Morocco. France offered Morocco to restore its control over the areas claimed by it, provided that the Franco-Moroccan company (the joint Organization for the desert regions) was established, which is charged with exploiting the newly discovered mining resources in the Sahara and stopping supporting the Algerian revolution, but King Mohammed V rejected the French offer, stressing that the border problem would be resolved with the Algerian authorities after Algeria's independence from France. On July 6, 1961, Rabat signed an agreement with Ferhat Abbas, the head of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic, recognizing the existence of a border problem between the two countries, and stipulating that negotiations should begin to resolve it immediately upon the independence of Algeria. France wanted behind its proposal to stop Morocco's continuous support for the Algerian revolution, as it was hosting the leaders of the revolution, especially in the eastern city of Oujda, and Rabat was providing arms supplies to the revolutionaries, which was eliminating the burden of the French occupation. After the Algerian revolutionaries succeeded in expelling the French occupation and declaring the country's independence in 1962, Ahmed Ben Bella, the first president of Algeria, took the initiative to emphasize that Algerian soil is an integral part. Ben Bella and the Algerian National Liberation Army rejected the idea of any negotiation on the cession of any land "liberated with the blood of martyrs" to Morocco, and after independence, the Liberation Front rejected Morocco's demands about the alleged historical and political rights of Morocco, although the Algerian liberation front before the independence of Algeria recognized in an official agreement with Morocco the existence of border problems due to France. They saw the Moroccan demands as interference in internal affairs and pressure at a time when Algeria was emerging exhausted from seven years of war.

Before the independence of Algeria

The border between Algeria and Morocco in 1963
Several factors contributed to the outbreak of the conflict between Morocco and Algeria, including the lack of a precise border demarcation agreement between the two countries due to the French colonizer. Before France occupied the region starting in the nineteenth century, there was no codified border drawing by agreement. in the Treaty of Lalla Mughniyeh of March 18, 1845, which establishes the border between Morocco and French Algeria, the agreement provides for a "dry area without water sources, uninhabited and vaguely defined", but what was drawn represents only 165 km starting from the Mediterranean Sea in the North and south towards the Moroccan city of file. Apart from it, there is no border area, without a precise demarcation, crossed by tribal areas belonging to Algeria and Morocco.

After Morocco came under the French protectorate in 1912, the French administration decided to fix the border between the two countries, but these followed a poorly defined (Garnier line 1912 and tracks line 1938) varies from map to map. Since, in the eyes of the French administration, this is not an actual border and the area is already uninhabited, that is, it does not represent any significance. The discovery of iron and manganese mines in the area made France decide in 1950 to revise the border demarcation and include both Tindouf and bechar within the French provinces of Algeria.

After the independence of Algeria
After the independence of Algeria, King Hassan II, who succeeded his father in power after his death in 1961, made his first visit to Algeria on March 13, 1963, where his Algerian counterpart Ben Bella recalled the agreement signed with the Algerian interim government on the status of the borders between the two countries created by French colonialism, president Ben Bella asked Hassan II to postpone the discussion of the matter until the completion of the construction of the institutions of the modern state. He later retracted the agreement that the Algerian interim government had already concluded with Morocco.

Positions of the two countries
Morocco: demanded Algerian territory from colonial France to expand East based on the map of the Maghreb published by all El Fassi on July 7, 1956, which claims that Morocco has historical facts dating back to before the French colonization of Algeria when the latter was under Turkish rule.

Algeria considers these territories as a natural right and demanded that the borders inherited from colonialism and based on the Bandung Conference held in 1956 not be infringed.

Map of the great Maghreb for the Independence Party
The war
Escalation
After the visit of the king of Morocco to Algeria, a media war suddenly broke out between the two countries, as Algeria stated that Morocco has expansionist ambitions in the region, while Morocco saw the Algerian accusations supported by Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser, who is looking for an extension in the Maghreb region, elements of concern that threaten the unity of the country. Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president at that time, classified the Arab monarchies as reactionary regimes and supported the revolutionary movements against them, and stood with the regimes that have the same policies towards Western countries, especially France and the United States of America. The Moroccan independence party rejected the position of the Algerian regime and the Algerian-Egyptian media campaign on Morocco, and in March 1963 published a map of the "greater Morocco" in the Moroccan newspaper (daily Al-Alam). The map includes a third of Algeria until ainSaleh, Western Sahara, which at that time was still subject to Spain, independent Mauritania in 1960, which was separated from the kingdom of Morocco with the encouragement of France, and a part of independent Mali in 1960.

On October 8, 1963, elements of the Algerian forces launched an attack on the White Hassi area, in which ten elements of the Moroccan army located in the military center of the town were killed. Morocco then hastened to send more than one official delegation to Algerian President Ben Bella to protest the Sudden Attack on Moroccan soldiers and other attacks that Rabat accused Algerian parties of carrying out on the border areas between the two countries to the south and North, including the regions of tenuous and Ish. The two sides reached an impasse, the doors of negotiation and diplomatic work were closed and the countries came to the brink of war.

Skirmishes
The pressure between the two countries has gradually increased, and nothing foreshadows that one of the parties will retreat from its position. In 1962, the Tindouf region was known for demonstrations and skirmishes of some residents, where banners were raised (yes to independence from France, but we are Sahrawis). The situation in the Bashar region was relatively stable during the summer of 1963. The two countries began to strengthen their military presence along the border and the Press began to publish abuses, Algerian border guards expelled Moroccans and directed them towards the Moroccan border, while residents in Tindouf and Bashar registered themselves to obtain Algerian citizenship. The expulsion of Moroccan workers working in Algeria as well as Algerian merchants in the city of Oujda, the military skirmishes until September were attributed to"isolated" elements. The war broke out in October 1963.

Outbreak of war

In a private meeting between King Hassan II and President Ahmed Ben Bella during the visit, the latter asked the Moroccan King to delay the discussion of the border issue until Algeria completes the establishment of constitutional institutions and takes office as the elected head of the Algerian state.

Starting from early September, the Maghreb Arab News Agency, which was close to the Independence Party at the time, published news that Algerian troops had entered Tarfaya to incite the population to revolt against the king and that the armored vehicles occupied the reserves of ze du and America by the end of September, King Hassan II and Mohamed oufkir sent Moroccan troops stationed to recover tenuous and Hassi El-Bayda, in the heart of the "dispossessed" lands by the French, these two villages control the road connecting the Algerian border to Tindouf and Western Sahara, these moves allowed the King has won great support from the Moroccan people.

On September 30, President Ben Bella announced that Moroccan troops supported the uprising of Hussein AIT Ahmed in the Kabylie region.

On October 05, the foreign ministers of the two countries, Ahmed Reda Madeira and Abdelaziz Bouteflika agreed in the city of Oujda and reached the need to organize a summit between King Hassan II and President Ben Bella, to resolve the problem of the territorial dispute, but the summit will not be successful.

On October 8, the troops of the Algerian people's national army recaptured tenuously and Hassi El Beida and killed ten Moroccan soldiers. The next day, Morocco announced that the reserves of tenuous, Hassi El Beida and tinfouchi had been captured by Algerian forces "in a surprise attack", for Algeria Moroccan forces have been advancing in the desert since September to establish reserves, and they are currently attacking Golomb Bashar. Under the order of King Hassan II, Abdelhadi Boutaleb, the minister of information, went to Algeria but his mission was unsuccessful.

And on October 15, Algeria decided on a general mobilization of the army veterans "soldiers of the National Liberation Army" heroes of the war of independence

Algeria received military support from the USSR, Cuba, and Egypt. Morocco received assistance from France and the United States of America.

After intense skirmishes along the border, over time, the clash became real and fierce fighting raged around the oasis of Tindouf and fake. . Hey, Alan.. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of experienced veterans, reinforced by the armed forces, were ready to go into battle. Moreover, the Moroccan army possessed modern and superior equipment on the battlefield.

Military operations
On October 14, Moroccan royal troops occupied Hassi El-Beida, overrunning and pushing Algerian troops towards the Bashar road – The Algerian army seized a Moroccan position in the desert beyond the disputed area, and it is considered a plan to open a new front to decompress the threatened Algerian forces in the south, or rather to obtain an area that could be exploited in negotiations. the Algerians reached the borders of fake. the Moroccan army led by Idris Benomar is well equipped with Western equipment (France was the largest seller of weapons to Morocco at that time) and Boumediene has experience in guerrilla warfare and relying on hit-and-run attacks but is poorly equipped and recently formed from war The guerrillas in the ranks of the FLN and received fluctuation in supply, so it was an unequal confrontation, but Morocco could not penetrate Algeria.

Algeria benefited from Cuban armament (686 men with aircraft, armored vehicles, and artillery ) and from Egypt (1000 soldiers, and after the emergency landing of an Algerian helicopter behind the Algerian lines on October 20, he presented 3 Egyptian Colonels to the press ) while Morocco receives no direct support from the United States, Spain and France Morocco severed ties with Cuba, recalled its ambassadors to Egypt and Syria and expelled 350 Egyptian teachers, the biggest battle broke out on October 25, about 250 Algerians were captured near Hassi El-Bayda.

At the end of the month, Morocco is in a comfortable position, since it controls Hassi El-Beida and is tenuous, while Algeria has a good diplomatic position and in its favor, it has great support after the war of independence and is supported to varying degrees by African organizations and can claim the principle of the "principle of inherited borders" to support its demands.

Negotiations and ceasefire
After negotiations brokered by the organization of African unity and the Arab League between the parties, it was agreed on the following :

A ceasefire agreement was signed on February 20, 1964.
Define a demilitarized zone.
The appointment of observers from the two countries to ensure life and peace in this region.
The formation of an arbitration committee to determine the responsibility for who initiated the military operations between the two countries.
Study the problem of the border between the parties and make positive proposals to them.