1991 Tifariti offensive

August 2014 December 2013 Operation Rattle Western Sahara War Avion marocain Tifariti.jpg Remains of a Moroccan Northrop F-5 shot down in Tifariti by guerilla forces during Operation Rattle. 4 August 1991 to 6 September 1991 Tifariti, Bir Lehlou, Mehaires, Mijek & Agwanit, Western Sahara Destruction of Tifariti & Bir Lehlou;Los saharauis celebran la tregua como "día histórico para la independencia" http://elpais.com/diario/1991/09/08/internacional/684280807_850215.html Ana Camacho El País 8 September 1991 11 July 2012 es temporary depopulation of the Liberated Territories Morocco Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.svg Polisario Front 10,000–100,000 soldiers300 tanksRoyal Moroccan Air Force support (14 planes) Unknown Unknown killedUnknown wounded1 captured Unknown killedUnknown wounded Civilian casualties:30 killed24 wounded100 missing Operation Rattle, also known as the 1991 Tifariti offensive, was the last military operation in the Western Sahara War by the Royal Moroccan Army against the Polisario Front, seeking independence for Western Sahara. A ceasefire (accorded to be in effect from 6 September 1991) had been agreed between the parts on July.El Frente Polisario denuncia un ataque de la aviación marroquí ABC, 5 August 1991 es During August and the first days of September 1991, the Royal Moroccan Army (RMA) conducted offensive operations in the areas of Mehaires, Tifariti, Bir Lahlou, Mijek and Agwanit, resulting in multiple Sahrawi civilian casualties, the destruction of Tifariti and Bir Lahlou, poisoning of the wells and subsequently depopulation of the area. Operation Rattle Between 4–5 August, Moroccan troops and aviation attacked the towns of Tifariti, Mehaires and Mijek, destroying infrastructure that had been built for the nomad population of the area and the outcome of the referendum, and while a United Nations military experts mission was in the zone. POLISARIO sources stated that they had no military casualties, and on 13 August declared that one Sahrawi had been killed and another wounded during the attacks on Tifariti and Miyek.Muerte en el Sáhara http://elpais.com/diario/1991/08/13/internacional/682034406_850215.html El País 13 August 1991 10 July 2012 es Sahrawi sources from Tindouf mentioned that three civilians were wounded during the attacks. On 4 August, a Moroccan Northrop F-5 was shot down by Sahrawi fighters near Tifariti, and his pilot Captain Youssef Megzari captured (he escaped from Tindouf prison in February 2005 along with another POW).https://www.yabiladi.com/article-politique-310.html Algérie : 2 soldats marocains se sont évadés de Tindouf selon l'ASM et al Ahdath al Maghribia - Archive While the POLISARIO saw the attacks as a Moroccan attempt to sabotage the peace plan, the Moroccan official news agency defined the attacks as a "cleansing operation in no-man's land" to avoid the "infiltration of elements armed and trained to make terrorist attacks on the Moroccan Sahara"Western Sahara war 1975–1991. List of Royal Moroccan Air Force losses during operations against Sahrawi rebel national liberation movements (POLISARIO).El Polisario pide a la ONU que ponga fin a la escalada militar en el Sáhara http://elpais.com/diario/1991/08/09/internacional/681688801_850215.html Ana Camacho/Dris Bouissef-Rekab El País 9 August 1991 9 July 2012 esMarruecos bombardea 'zonas liberadas' del Polisario http://elpais.com/diario/1991/08/08/internacional/681602401_850215.html Ana Camacho El País 8 August 1991 10 July 2012 es From 22 August, a second wave of attacks by the Moroccan forces took part on Tifariti, Bir Lehlou, Mijek and Agwanit.El Polisario denuncia un nuevo ataque marroquí en el Sáhara http://elpais.com/diario/1991/08/23/internacional/682898403_850215.html El País 23 August 1991 11 July 2012 es While Polisario Front sources defined the attacks as a "massive terrestrial offensive" and denounced the "systematic destruction of the water wells",Ofensiva terrestre masiva en el Sáhara http://elpais.com/diario/1991/08/25/internacional/683071218_850215.html Ana Camacho El País 25 August 2012 12 July 2012 es MAP stated that since early August there had been "political operations of cleaning and searching in the no man's land", but denying that there were on a "greater scale".Marruecos lanza "operaciones" de ataque contra las guerrillas del Frente Polisario http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1991/08/25/042.html ABC 25 August 1991 12 July 2012 es On 25 August, POLISARIO officials announced that Moroccan forces had reached the town of Bir Lehlou, the temporary capital of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, making hundreds of Sahrawi civilians flee into the desert.Marruecos ocupa la capital del Polisario en su ofensiva en el Sáhara http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1991/08/26/011.html ABC 26 August 1991 12 July 2012 es These sources stated that the Sahrawi forces were not opposing resistance to the Moroccan offensive, due to "respect to the date of September 6 marked by the UN peace plan for the ceasefire", but also adverted that if after the ceasefire date the attacks continued, "Sahrawis will be legitimated to exercise their self-defense right".El Polisario esperará hasta el día 6 para ejercer su "derecho a la autodefensa" http://elpais.com/diario/1991/08/26/internacional/683157628_850215.html Ana Camacho El País 26 August 1991 12 July 2012 es Finally, they affirmed that at least twenty Sahrawi nomad civilians had died, most of them of thirst, during the Moroccan offensive.Muertos de sed http://elpais.com/diario/1991/08/26/internacional/683157629_850215.html Ana Camacho El País 26 August 1991 13 July 2012 es On 27 August, then UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar expressed his confidence on the maintenance of the ceasefire date, while dismissing POLISARIO reports about the attacks.Pérez de Cuéllar confía en que se mantenga el alto el fuego y el referéndum en el Sáhara http://elpais.com/diario/1991/08/28/internacional/683330408_850215.html Ana Camacho 28 August 1991 13 July 2012 es Moroccan press attacked Pérez de Cuellar, accusing him of not being neutral and creating confusion. Meanwhile, the Royal Moroccan Air Force bombed Tifariti again, killing at least five civilians, wounding 20 and destroying the infrastructure of the town, according to Hash Ahmed, then POLISARIO representative in Madrid, who added that ten thousand refugees on the Tifariti region were fleeing, and a hundred had disappeared.La aviación marroquí bombardea uno de los principales oasis del Sáhara http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1991/08/28/030.html ABC 28 August 1991 13 July 2012 es On 29 August Bachir Mustapha Sayed, POLISARIO representative for relations with the MINURSO, declared that the Moroccan troops were retreating into the Moroccan Wall.Los marroquíes se retiran, asegura el Frente Polisario http://elpais.com/diario/1991/08/29/internacional/683416826_850215.html Ana Camacho El País 29 August 1991 13 July 2012 es Cease fire A cease-fire between the Polisario Front and Morocco, monitored by MINURSO (UN) has been in effect since 6 September 1991, with the promise of a referendum on independence the following year. See also Sahrawi refugees References Further reading Hodges, Tony (1983), Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War, Lawrence Hill Books (0-88208-152-7) Thompson, Virginia and Adloff, Richard (1980), The Western Saharans. Background to Conflict, Barnes & Noble Books (0-389-20148-0) Diego Aguirre, Jose Ramón (1991), Guerra en el Sáhara, Ed. Istmo (84-7090-252-0) Category:Military operations of the Western Sahara conflict Category:1991 conflicts Category:1991 in Western Sahara Category:Battles involving Polisario Front Category:Tifariti Category:August 1991 in Africa Category:September 1991 in Africa