Ain Ben Tili () is a small village-fort in northeast Mauritania, on the border with

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 ...

. It is part of the

Tiris Zemmour Tiris Zemmour ( ar, ولاية تيرس زمور) is the northernmost region of Mauritania. Its capital is Zouérat. Other major cities/towns include F'dérik and Bir Moghrein. The region borders Algeria to the north-east, Mali to east, the Mau ...

region.

History

The fort was constructed by the French in 1934 during a campaign aimed at the pacification of the Sahara led by "General Trinquet". This was part of a larger scale French military effort to effectively occupy the interior of the Sahara (e.g.

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 ...

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 ...

) which were previously exempt from any foreign presence. Ain bin Tilli

In 1961, the fort was returned to Mauritania which kept in there a small military garrison. On 20 January 1976, the

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� ...

(a guerrilla movement demanding the independence of

) surrounded and attacked the isolated fort killing the few Mauritanians which were stationed there. During this attack, a Mauritanian "Commandant" (Soueidatt Ould Weddad) was killed and a Moroccan

Northrop F-5 The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and t ...

fighter aircraft called for support was shot down by the POLISARIO. The latter kept the fort, until the

Moroccan army zgh, ⵜⴰⵙⵔⴷⴰⵙⵜ ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⴰⵏⵜ , image = , caption = Flag of the Royal Moroccan Army , start_date = active since: 1088 CE current form: 14 May 1956 , ...

took over it in 1977 only to abandon it two years later since it proved difficult to defend against the POLISARIO's raids. After the 1991 cease-fire between

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and the Polisario Front, the United Nations'

MINURSO The United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara ( ar, بعثة الأمم المتحدة لتنظيم استفتاء في الصحراء الغربية; french: Mission des Nations Unies pour l'Organisation d'un Référendum au ...

has occasionally sheltered some of its personnel at the fort. A French Legionnaire's grave marked by a distinctive cross is located at Ain Ben Tili; his name was "Brigadier Tison" and he died in 1934 during the building of the fort. Ain Ben Tili is currently occupied by the Mauritanian military who are attempting to secure the border area from al-Qaeda militants based in Mali who "raid" into Northern Mauritania and are connected to the many smugglers who operate in the greater Sahara region.

Controversy

On April 10 2022, the

Royal Moroccan Air Force The Royal Moroccan Air Force ( ar, القوات الجوية الملكية; ber, Adwas ujenna ageldan; french: Forces Royales Air) is the air force of the Moroccan Armed Forces. History The Moroccan air force was formed on 14 May 1956 as the ...

reportedly launched a drone strike in the Free Zone on the border of the town. The drone strike was part of a series of attacks in the Free Zone in which 2 people were killed and several were badly injured. The Armed Forces of Mauritania conducted a search and rescue mission in the area looking for missing people including a child.

References

*David Newman's book "the forgotten path" {{Authority control Populated places in Mauritania History of Western Sahara History of Mauritania Forts in Mauritania Mauritania–Western Sahara border