TY - JOUR KW - guerrilla KW - Mauritania KW - Morocco KW - Polisario KW - Sahrawi KW - Western Sahara AU - János Besenyő AB -
This essay examines the guerrilla war fought between the Polisario Front, representing the Western Saharan natives, and the Kingdom of Morocco, as well as Mauritania. Even today, the aforementioned guerrilla war provides many lessons regarding desert counter-insurgency (COIN) operations. Besides reviewing the necessary activities for conducting a successful guerrilla war, this paper will delineate the most efficient methods for defending against one. This is the first COIN operation for the Moroccan government in which it has taken an unusual approach in standing up against the guerrillas. It has achieved long-standing results by the restructuring of its tactics and the units stationed in the Western Saharan region as well as by the construction of a system of fortifications.
BT - Connections: The Quarterly Journal DA - Summer 2017 DO - https://doi.org/10.11610/Connections.16.3.02 IS - 3 LA - eng N2 -This essay examines the guerrilla war fought between the Polisario Front, representing the Western Saharan natives, and the Kingdom of Morocco, as well as Mauritania. Even today, the aforementioned guerrilla war provides many lessons regarding desert counter-insurgency (COIN) operations. Besides reviewing the necessary activities for conducting a successful guerrilla war, this paper will delineate the most efficient methods for defending against one. This is the first COIN operation for the Moroccan government in which it has taken an unusual approach in standing up against the guerrillas. It has achieved long-standing results by the restructuring of its tactics and the units stationed in the Western Saharan region as well as by the construction of a system of fortifications.
PY - 2017 SP - 23 EP - 45 T2 - Connections: The Quarterly Journal TI - Guerrilla Operations in Western Sahara: The Polisario versus Morocco and Mauritania VL - 16 ER -