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 and Algeria entered into armed conflict in the 1963 Sand War. Morocco claimed the regions of Bechar and Tindouf that France had attached to what was the French overseas departement of Algeria, respectively in 1934 and 1952. After independence, Algeria insisted that the frontiers inherited from Colonialism should not be altered. 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 Polisario Front 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, in application of the Madrid Accords. The UN has called for the self-determination of the population of the territory. In 1979, Mauritania had been effectively defeated by the Polisario Front nationalist group, and withdrew its claims, upon which Morocco claimed the whole territory. Algeria backed the Polisario against Morocco both militarily and diplomatically. The Polisario Front declared an exile government, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, in 1976, but most of the area remains in Morocco's hands, behind the Moroccan Berm. A cease-fire has been in place since the 1991 Settlement Plan, and ongoing negotiations including UN backed attempted to organize a referendum on final status of the territory have continued since. However, both parties have refused to substantially compromise on their respective positions(see Baker Plan). As of mid-2007, the kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front are directly negotiating an issue to the conflict. In 2005 a series of demonstrations and riots struck the contested provinces.
[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.
