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Western Sahara Conflict
The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic/Polisario Front and the Morocco, Kingdom of Morocco. The conflict originated from an insurgency by the Polisario Front against Spanish colonial forces from 1973 to 1975 and the subsequent Western Sahara War against Morocco between 1975 and 1991. Today the conflict is dominated by unarmed civil campaigns of the Polisario Front and their self-proclaimed SADR state to gain fully recognized independence for Western Sahara. The conflict escalated after the withdrawal of Spain from the Spanish Sahara in accordance with the Madrid Accords. Beginning in 1975, the Polisario Front, backed and supported by Algeria, waged a 16-year-long war for independence against Mauritania and Morocco. In February 1976, the Polisario Front declared the establishment of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which was not admitted into the United Nations, but won International recognition of the Sahrawi Arab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahrawi People's Liberation Army
The Sahrawi People's Liberation Army (SPLA; ; , ELPS/ELP) is the army of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and previously served as the armed wing of the Polisario Front prior to the foundation of the Republic. Its commander-in-chief was the Secretary-General of the Polisario, but the army is now also integrated into the SADR government through the SADR Minister of Defense. The SADR and the Polisario Front have no navy or air force. The SPLA's armed units are considered to have a manpower of possibly 20,000–30,000 active soldiers today, but during the war years its strength appears to have increased to 100,000 men. It has a potential manpower of many times that number, since both male and female refugees in the Tindouf camps undergo military training at age 18. Women formed auxiliary units protecting the camps during war years. Equipment When it originally began the Anti-Spanish rebellion, Polisario was forced to capture its weapons individually, and transpor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spain transitioned into a democracy. During Franco's rule, Spain was officially known as the Spanish State (). The informal term "Fascist Spain" is also used, especially before and during World War II. During its existence, the nature of the regime evolved and changed. Months after the start of the Civil War in July 1936, Franco emerged as the dominant rebel military leader and he was proclaimed head of state on 1 October 1936, ruling a dictatorship over the territory which was controlled by the Nationalist faction. The 1937 Unification Decree, which merged all of the parties which supported the rebel side, led to Nationalist Spain becoming a single-party regime under the FET y de las JONS. The end of the Civil War in 1939 bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mustafa Ould Salek
Col. Mustafa Ould Salek (; 1936 – 18 December 2012) was the president of Mauritania from 1978 to 1979. Biography Mustafa Ould Mohamed Salek was appointed Army Commander by longtime President Moktar Ould Daddah in February 1978, as the country faced dire economic crisis and was failing to contain the Polisario Front's Sahrawi guerrillas after invading and annexing Western Sahara in 1975 in alliance with Morocco. On July 10, 1978, Mustafa led a bloodless military coup d'état against President Moktar, and was appointed head of the 20-man junta, the Military Committee for National Recovery (CMRN) that was to rule and govern the country. Seen as pro-French and careful not to break his country's alliance Morocco, he failed to make peace with the Polisario (which had reacted to Daddah's downfall by entering into a unilateral ceasefire on the assumption that Mauritania would want to withdraw peacefully from the conflict). He also failed to address racial tension between south ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mokhtar Ould Daddah
Moktar Ould Daddah (; December 25, 1924 – October 14, 2003) was a Mauritanian politician who served as the country's first President after it gained its independence from France. Moktar served as the country's first Prime Minister from 1957 to 1961 and as its first President of Mauritania, a position he held for 18 years until he was deposed in a military coup d'etat in 1978. He established an authoritarian one-party state, with his Mauritanian People's Party being the sole legal political entity in the country, and followed a policy of "Islamic socialism" with many nationalizations of private businesses. In his memoirs, Moktar expressed concern that the issue of slavery in Mauritania could lead to armed conflict that would ultimately destroy the country. In foreign affairs, he joined the Non-Aligned Movement and maintained strong links with Mao Zedong and the People's Republic of China, but he also accepted Western (especially French) foreign aid. During his presidency, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mohammed Berrid
Mohammed Berrid (, ; born 1955) is a Morocco, Moroccan military commander. He is a 43-year veteran of the Royal Armed Forces, having joined the Royal Armed Forces in the 1970s as an officer. Mohammed Berrid is the Inspector General of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces and the Commander of the Southern Military Zone. He was appointed as Inspector General by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, Mohammed VI in 2023, replacing Belkhir El Farouk. Early life and education Mohammed Berrid was born in 1955 in the town of El Kbab, near Khenifra, Khénifra. He was born in the Berbers, Berber tribal confederation. He is a graduate of the Armored Training Center at the Meknes Royal Military Academy, where he received training for the AMX-10 RC and M48 Patton, M48A5 armored vehicles. Berrid is also a graduate of the Royal College of Higher Military Education in Kenitra, Kénitra. He received a master's degree in national defense from France's ''École Militaire, Collège interarmées de Défense (Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belkhir El Farouk
Belkhir El Farouk (, ; born 1948) is a Moroccan military general. He was appointed as Inspector General by King Mohammed VI in 2021, replacing Abdelfattah Louarak, having previously been appointed Commander of the Southern Military Zone in 2019. He was replaced by Mohammed Berrid on April 22, 2023 after asking to be relieved of his duties for health reasons. Early life Belkhir El Farouk was born in the village of Id Bouchini, near Mirleft, in 1948. He was born into the Shilha tribal confederation. He graduated from the Meknes Royal Military Academy in 1972 with the rank of second lieutenant. El Farouk obtained a Diploma of Higher Military Defense Studies in France. Military career El Farouk had held several positions of military responsibility, notably in the 13th Infantry Battalion, the and , the Headquarters Battalion, the 1st Skiers Battalion, the 10th Motorized Infantry Brigade, 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, 3rd Headquarters Company, and Headquarters and Theater ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abdelfattah Louarak
Abdelfattah Louarak (; born 1955) is a Moroccan army General who served as Inspector General of the Armed Forces from 18 January 2017 to 15 September 2021. Louarak was promoted by the king to the rank of 4 star general (Général de Corps d'Armée) on 31 July 2017. Biography Abdelfattah was born in 1955 in Ben Ahmed, 70 kilometers south-east of Casablanca. In 1976, he graduated from the Meknes Royal Military Academy, Infantry Division. He began his military career in the South Zone as Commander of the ''Point d'appui''. He served in the 11th mechanized Infantry Regiment (11th RIM) during the Western Sahara War. After spending 11 years in the Operational Zone, he was transferred to an elite unit, the 2nd Parachute Infantry Brigade, where he participated in the initiation and training of the Special Forces, before joining the 3rd Bureau of the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces in charge of employment and training within the Royal Armed Forces where he held several positions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bouchaib Arroub
Bouchaib Arroub (; born 1936) is a Moroccan army general. He held the position of the Inspector General of the Moroccan army between 13 June 2014 and January 2017. On 13 June 2014 Arroub was appointed by king Mohammed VI into this position after the sudden death of General Abdelaziz Bennani. In June 2014, reports had revealed that Bennani was in poor health and that he was following treatment in France. Arroub was also the commander of the military operations (the third bureau), a position he held for a long time since the days of Hassan II (1988), after he was brought back by the monarch into important positions, since he was a member of Oufkir's cabinet as a junior officer at the time of the attempted coups of 1972 and 1971. Life Few details are known about Arroub. He is part of the older generation of Moroccan officers and was the chief of cabinet of Mohamed Oufkir. As early as 1966 he held the rank of captain and was in command of the Benguerir military base. He also comma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abdelaziz Bennani
General Abdelaziz Bennani ( – b. 28 September 1935, Taza, d. 20 May 2015, Rabat) was a senior Moroccan Army officer who was, between 27 July 2004 and 13 June 2014, "General Inspector of the Armed Forces", the professional head of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, succeeding General Abdelhaq Kadiri. He was the commander of the ''Southern Zone'' since the death of General Ahmed Dlimi. On 13 June 2014 and after reports which stated that he was in poor health and following treatment in France, Bennani was replaced, as the Inspector General of the Moroccan army and commander of the southern zone, by general Bouchaib Arroub. Early life Like other high-ranking officials of the Moroccan military, few personal details about Bennani are known. He was part of a class of military conscripts (The ''Promotion Mohammed V'') who in 1957, followed six-months training in the French military school Saint Cyr, under the supervision of then Crown Prince Hassan, after which they received the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahmed Dlimi
Ahmed Dlimi (; 16 July 1931 in Zaggota, Sidi Kacem Province – 25 January 1983, Marrakesh) was a Moroccan general under the rule of Hassan II. After General Mohamed Oufkir's 1972 assassination, he became Hassan II's right-hand man. He led the Western Sahara War and played a major role in the Angolan Civil War. He was promoted to General during the Green March in 1975, and took charge of the Moroccan Armed Forces in the Southern Zone, where the military were fighting the Polisario Front. Early life Dlimi comes from a family originally from Zaggota, a village in the Chrarda region that is administratively part of Sidi Kacem Province. His father, Lahcen Dlimi, was a rural aristocrat falling over the Middle Eastern umbrella term of Pasha for his land-owning nature during the Protectorate Era. It was reported that it was Lahcen Dlimi who co-opted Mohammed Oufkir for a job in the colonial administration in the late 1940s. After the independence of Morocco, he briefly marr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hassan II
Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottish surname and a list of people with that surname Places * Hassan (crater), an impact crater on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn Africa * Abou El Hassan District, Algeria * Hassan Tower, the minaret of an incomplete mosque in Rabat, Morocco * Hassan I Dam, on the Lakhdar River in Morocco * Hassan I Airport, serving El Aaiún, Western Sahara Americas *Chanhassen, Minnesota, a city in Minnesota, United States * Hassan Township, Minnesota, a city in Minnesota, United States Asia * Hassan, Karnataka, a city and district headquarters in Karnataka, India **Hassan District, a district headquartered in Karnataka, India **Hassan (Lok Sabha constituency) ** Hassan Airport, Karnataka * Hasan, Ilam, a village in Ilam Province, Iran * Hasan, North ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mohammed VI Of Morocco
Mohammed VI (; born 21 August 1963) is King of Morocco. A member of the Alawi dynasty, he acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Mohammed initially introduced several reforms and changed the family code to grant more rights to women in Morocco. Leaked diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks in 2010 led to allegations of corruption in the court of Mohammed, implicating him and his closest advisors. In 2011, protests in Morocco that were considered part of the wider Arab Spring occurred against alleged government corruption. In response, Mohammed enacted several reforms and introduced Constitution of Morocco, a new constitution. These reforms were passed by 2011 Moroccan constitutional referendum, public referendum on 1 July 2011. His other reforms have included modernising the Economy of Morocco, economy and Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, military force of Morocco, promoting Non-denominational Muslim, non-se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
