Amgala ( ar, أمگالة; ber, ⴰⵎⴳⴰⵍⴰ) is an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

. It is located between

Tifariti Tifariti ( Berber: Tifariti, ar, تيفاريتي) is an oasis town located in north-eastern Western Sahara, east of the Moroccan Berm, from Smara and north of the border with Mauritania. It is part of what Polisario Front calls the ''Liberate ...

and

Smara Smara ( ar, السمارة ''as-Samāra'', also romanized ''Semara''; es, Esmara) is a city in the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara, with a population of 57,035 recorded in the 2014 Moroccan census. It is served by Smara Airport and Sm ...

, outside the

Moroccan Wall The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall or Berm is an approximately sand wall or berm running south to north through Western Sahara and the southwestern portion of Morocco. It separates the Moroccan-controlled areas (the Southern Provinces) on the w ...

in the area controlled by the Polisario.

Western Sahara War

Amgala was the scene of several SPLA-RMA battles. In January 1976 and again in February 1976, clashes took place in Amgala between units of the

Royal Moroccan Armed Forces The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of the Kingdom of Morocco. They consist of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Royal Gendarmerie, and the Royal Guard. The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces are large, expensive and well ...

(RMA) and

Polisario Front The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس� ...

forces (SPLA), supported by units of the

Algerian Army french: Armée nationale populaire , image = ANP.png , alt = , caption = People's National Army emblem , image2 = , alt2 = , caption2 = , motto = ...

. Because of its ample supply of water, Amgala was an important place in the Saguia el-Hamra Valley and Algerian troops set up a Polisario base here where refugees could be given food and medical assistance and transported onward to Algeria. The unexpected attack by the Moroccans caused much anger as well as heavy damage, and ninety-nine Algerian soldiers were captured. An all-out war between the two countries was only avoided because of decisive action by President Houari Boumediene of Algeria. After that, Algeria withdrew its troops from the area but increased its support for the rebels. Algeria claimed that their forces were only in the area to render humanitarian assistance to Sahrawi

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s fleeing from Moroccan occupation and heading for the

Sahrawi refugee camps The Sahrawi refugee camps (also romanized with Saharawi) in Tindouf, Algeria, are a collection of refugee camps set up in the Tindouf Province, Algeria in 1975–76 for Sahrawi refugees fleeing from Moroccan forces, who advanced through Wester ...

Tindouf Tindouf ( Berber: Tinduf, ar, تندوف) is the main town, and a commune in Tindouf Province, Algeria, close to the Mauritanian, Western Saharan and Moroccan borders. The commune has population of around 160,000 but the census and population ...

, in western Algeria. Morocco said the conflict was a direct military intervention by Algeria on the side of Polisario. A second battle took place at Amgala between the 13 and 15 February 1976. On this occasion, Polissario troops defeated the small Moroccan garrison which suffered heavy casualties and were nearly wiped out. Morocco complained that the Algerians had been involved in this attack but the latter denied the claim. Another Battle of Amgala took place on 8 November 1989.

References

{{reflist Oases of Western Sahara Ghost towns in Africa Former populated places in Western Sahara Es Semara Province