The massacre of Monte Arruit took place on 9 August 1921 in Al Aaroui during the

Rif War The Rif War () was an armed conflict fought from 1921 to 1926 between Spain (joined by France in 1924) and the Berber tribes of the mountainous Rif region of northern Morocco. Led by Abd el-Krim, the Riffians at first inflicted several d ...

, when, after the July 1921

Battle of Annual The Battle of Annual was fought on 22 July 1921 at Annual, in northeastern Morocco, between the Spanish Army and Rifian Berbers during the Rif War. The Spanish suffered a major military defeat, which is almost always referred to by the Spanish a ...

, Riffian forces slaughtered most of the Spanish soldiers who had surrendered on that day.

History

The Riffians forces advanced quite rapidly into a number of positions following the crushing defeat of the Spanish forces at the 22 July 1921

and by early August they had already taken

Zeluán Selouane ( Tarifit: Seřwan, ⵙⴻⵔⵡⴰⵏ; Arabic: سلوان) is a town in Nador Province, Oriental, Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It o ...

and

Nador Nador ( Riffian-Berber: ⵏⴰⴷⵓⵔ) is a coastal city and provincial capital in the northeastern Rif region of Morocco with a population of about 161,726 (2014 census). Nador city is separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a salt lagoon ...

. had retreated to Arruit on 29 July, with around 2,201 ready soldiers and 252 wounded, joining the garrison of 964 soldiers. After 12 days of siege, General Navarro was allowed to negotiate surrender terms. He agreed on 9 August on the delivering of the weapons in exchange for free passage. However, the Riffians failed to honor the agreement (either from treason from the Riffian leaders who had negotiated the terms or revolt by the disgruntled low-rank Riffians) and most of the remaining Spanish soldiers (over 2,000) were slaughtered on that day after the capitulation. About 400 (or 600), mostly officers—including General Navarro—were spared to be held for

ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''re ...

. The Riffian forces disobeyed orders from Abd el Krim who had extolled the good treatment of prisoners and wounded. Once after the process for recapture of the Spanish territory lost after Annual began on 10 October 1921, the troops led by General Sanjurjo who secured the position of Monte Arruit on 24 October were overcome by the rotting stench of the corpses.

References

;Informational notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * * * {{coord missing, Morocco Rif War Massacres in Morocco Massacres in 1921 Prisoner of war massacres