List of conflicts in the Maghreb
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This is a list of post-colonial military conflicts within the Maghreb region.
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[edit] Morocco-Algeria conflict
Morocco briefly invaded Algeria in the 1963 Sand War, which was an attempt to take over territories that it claimed had owed a nominal allegiance to the Moroccan Sultan before French colonialism. This three-month war did not change the status quo ante, but tension remained strong between the two countries, later to be cemented through Algeria's support for the Sahrawi side in the Western Sahara conflict.
[edit] Libya-Chad conflict
In 1973 Libya effectively went to war against Chad and annexed Chadian land. Libya launched a full scale invasion of Chad in 1980.
[edit] Libya-Egypt conflict
Following Egypt's first negotiations with Israel in 1973, Libya became hostile to Egypt. In 1977, not long after demonstrators in the two countries attacked each other's consulates, the two countries fought a four-day war (July 21-July 24) during which several Libyan aircraft were destroyed on the ground. The war ended with no change to the status quo ante.
[edit] Western Sahara conflict
Western Sahara, formerly a Spanish colony, was partitioned and annexed by Morocco and Mauritania in 1975, ignoring the self determination rights that the UN had ruled belonged to the indigenous Sahrawi people. In 1979, Mauritania had been effectively defeated by the Polisario Front rebel group, which previously had been fighting against the Spanish, and withdrew its claims, upon which Morocco claimed the whole country. Algeria aided the Polisario against Morocco. Polisario declared an exile government, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, in 1976, but most of the area remains in Morocco's hands, behind the Moroccan Wall. A cease-fire has been in place since the 1991 Settlement Plan, and the UN is attempting to organize a referendum on final status of the territory for the indigenous population. However, Morocco refuses to accept any option of independence on the ballot, and the formal state of war persists (see Baker Plan). Lately, a wave of demonstrations and riots, called the Independence Intifada by Sahrawis, has challenged Moroccan rule.
[edit] Morocco-Spain conflict
In what it views as a case of unfinished decolonization, Morocco claims the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as Perejil Island (Layla Island). In 2002, the Moroccan army briefly occupied the uninhabited Perejil Island, but left without fighting shortly afterwards, when Spain sent in soldiers.
