Battles of La Güera and Tichla (1975)

Battles of La Güera and Tichla (1975)
Part of Western Sahara War
Date 10–22 December 1975 Location La Güera and Tichla, Spanish Sahara Result Mauritanian victory, occupation of La Güera and Tichla
Belligerents
Mauritania Morocco	Polisario Front
Commanders and leaders
Mohamed Ould Bah Ould Abdelkader	Mohamed Uld Emhamed Mohamed Salek Uld Buceif
Strength
1,000 (Mauritania)	100–800
Casualties and losses
20 killed, 36 wounded (Mauritanian-Moroccan claim)[1][2]	96 killed, 103 captured (Mauritanian-Moroccan claim)[2]
200 killed[3]

The Battles of La Güera and Tichla took place between 10–22 December 1975, when Mauritanian Army forces invaded the southern part of Western Sahara, which was the zone agreed to be annexed by Mauritania in the Madrid Accords. Mauritanian troops were confronted by Polisario Front guerrillas, forcing the Royal Moroccan Army to intervene on behalf of Mauritania. By the end of 1975, Mauritania controlled the southern half of the former Spanish colony of Río de Oro.

Background

By 6 November 1975, the Spanish government had evacuated the Spanish civilian population from La Güera during a 48-hour operation, part of the broader "Operation Swallow". Nineteen corpses from the La Güera cemetery were exhumed and embarked on the Ciudad de Huesca boat.^[4] A few hours later, POLISARIO flags waved on the main buildings of La Güera, after dozens of Sahrawi guerrilla fighters captured it and set up their own administration,^[5] and the town became cut off from air, sea and land.

References