Battle of Bir Anzarane

Overview

The Battle of Bir Anzarane was a significant military confrontation between the armed forces of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, represented by the Polisario Front, and the Moroccan Armed Forces. The confrontation took place in the oasis of Bir Anzarane, situated in Western Sahara, a territory that is the subject of a claim by both parties.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Bir Anzarane was one of the larger conventional confrontations of the Western Sahara War, pitting Polisario Front forces of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic against the Moroccan Armed Forces at the oasis of Bir Anzarane. The engagement involved several hundred combatants on each side, with casualty figures on both sides indicating a sustained and costly exchange. Within the broader conflict over Western Sahara — a disputed territory claimed by both the SADR and Morocco — engagements of this scale reflected the Polisario Front's capacity to mount significant offensive operations against Moroccan military positions. The battle occurred in August 1979, a period when the Polisario was pressing its guerrilla campaign across the territory following Morocco's annexation of the region after Spanish withdrawal.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (1)