Battle of Guelta Zemmur (1989)

The Battle of Guelta Zemmur occurred on 7 October 1989, when POLISARIO guerrillas commanded by Lahbib Ayub attacked the village of Guelta Zemmur on the Moroccan side of the Moroccan Western Sahara Wall. The attack was the first major military engagement in the war since 1988, as the Polisario Front had ended negotiations with Morocco in that year. The King of Morocco, Hassan II, responded to the offensive by rejecting a second meeting with POLISARIO leaders. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, at least a hundred soldiers from both sides were killed in the clashes.[2][3]

Battle of Guelta Zemmour
Part of the Western Sahara War
Date7 October 1989
Location
Guelta Zemmur, Western Sahara
Result Moroccan victory. [1]
Belligerents
 Morocco POLISARIO
Commanders and leaders
Unknown Lahbib Ayub
Casualties and losses
14 killed
31 wounded
(Moroccan claim)[2]		 80 killed or wounded
(Moroccan claim)[2]

Background

Western Sahara was a Spanish colony until 1975, when it was the last colonial province in Africa.[4] A war erupted between those countries and the Sahrawi Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) with a government-in-exile in Tindouf, Algeria. Mauritania withdrew in 1979, and Morocco eventually secured control of most of the territory, including all the major cities and natural resources. Armed conflict continued between Polisario and Morocco over prominence in the region, with Algerian support for Polisario and American, French and Saudi Arabian support for Morocco. The U.N. peace mission that aimed for a ceasefire and a referendum was accepted in various degrees by both combatants. The war was fought at a moment when Polisario felt that the second peace talks were deliberately delayed by King Hassan of Morocco. As a result, the peace talks were never held.[5]

Battle

After Morocco built fortified sand walls in the northwestern border towards Western Sahara, the Polisario Front responded by attacking the Moroccan base at Guelta Zemmour. While Polisario was advancing during most of the offensive, Morocco eventually overpowered them with superior numbers and equipment. Morocco maintained the wall, Polisario left 18 tanks and other armored vehicles destroyed by Gazelle helicopters on the field.[6]

References
  1. "Chapter V Military Dimension of the Western Sahara Conflict. P.166" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  2. Javier Valenzuela (8 October 1989). "El Polisario y el Ejército marroquí libran una importante batalla en el Sáhara occidental". El País. Retrieved 21 July 2012. (in Spanish)
  3. Javier Valenzuela (9 October 1989). "Luchas en el Sáhara". El País. Retrieved 21 July 2012. (in Spanish)
  4. González Campo, Julio. "Documento de Trabajo núm. 15 DT-2004. Las pretensiones de Marruecos sobre los territorios españoles en el norte de África (1956–2002)" (PDF) (in Spanish). Real Instituto Elcano. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016.
  5. "Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara (paragraph 37, p. 10)" (PDF). 2 March 1993. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  6. Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 417. ISBN 9780313335389.
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