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{{Short description|1963 conflict between Algeria and Morocco}}
{{Distinguish|war sand|Sand Wars}}

{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Sand War
| partof            = the [[Arab Cold War]] and the [[Cold War]]
| image             = Sand War.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = 
| date              = September 25, 1963{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=44}}&nbsp;– February 20, 1964{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=47}} ({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=09|day1=25|year1=1963|month2=02|day2=20|year2=1964}})
| place             = Around the oasis towns of [[Tindouf]] and [[Figuig]]
| result            = Military stalemate<ref name="Mikaberidze" />
*The closing of the border south of [[Figuig]], Morocco/[[Béni Ounif]], Algeria.
*Morocco abandoned its attempts to control Béchar and Tindouf after [[Organisation of African Unity|OAU]] mediation.
*[[Demilitarized zone]] established
| territory         = [[Status quo ante bellum|No territorial changes]]
| combatant1        = {{flag|Morocco}}<br/>'''Support''':<br>{{flag|France}}<ref name="Grimaud1984">{{cite book|author=Nicole Grimaud|title=La politique extérieure de l'Algérie (1962-1978)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Twz0kOnCxXYC&pg=PA198|date=1 January 1984|publisher=KARTHALA Editions|isbn=978-2-86537-111-2|page=198|quote=L'armée française était en 1963 présente en Algérie et au Maroc. Le gouvernement français, officiellement neutre, comme le rappelle le Conseil des ministres du 25 octobre 1963, n'a pas pu empêcher que la coopération très étroite entre l'armée française et l'armée marocaine n'ait eu quelques répercussions sur le terrain. == The French Army was in 1963 present in Algeria and Morocco. The French government, officially neutral, as recalled by the Council of Ministers on October 25, 1963, could not prevent the very close cooperation between the French army and the Moroccan army from having some repercussions on the ground.}}</ref>
| combatant2        = {{flag|Algeria}}<br/>'''Support:'''<br/>{{flagicon|Egypt|1958}} [[United Arab Republic|Egypt]]{{sfn|Ottaway|1970|p=166}}<br/>{{flag|Cuba}}<ref name="Latell2012">{{cite book|author=Brian Latell|title=Castro's Secrets: Cuban Intelligence, The CIA, and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYsyA93L56MC&pg=PA164|date=24 April 2012|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-1-137-00001-9|page=164|quote=In this instance, unlike several others, the Cubans did no fighting; Algeria concluded an armistice with the Moroccan king.}}</ref>
| commander1        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon image|Royal Flag of Morocco.svg}} '''[[Hassan II of Morocco|Hassan II]]'''
* {{flag icon|Morocco}} [[:fr:Driss Ben Omar El Alami|Driss Alami]]
* {{flag icon|Morocco}} Colonel Habibi
}}
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the President of Algeria.svg}} '''[[Ahmed Ben Bella]]'''
* {{flag icon|Algeria}} [[Houari Boumédiène]]
}}
| strength1         = Unknown
| strength2         = Unknown
| casualties1       = 39 killed<br>57 captured<ref name="Hughes137">Hughes 2001, page 137</ref><br>'''or''':<br>200 killed<ref name="Clodfelter">{{cite book|first=Micheal |last=Clodfelter |title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts |url=https://archive.org/details/warfarearmedconf0000clod |url-access=registration |year=2008 |edition=3rd |isbn=9780786433193 |publisher=McFarland}}</ref>
| casualties2       = 60 killed<br>250 wounded<ref name="Mikaberidze">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjQfo3a1eVMC&pg=PA797 |title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-Clio |year=2011 |isbn=9781598843361 |editor-last=Mikaberidze |editor-first=Alexander |volume=1 |quote=Within weeks the war ended in stalemate.}}</ref><br>'''or''':<br>300 killed<ref name="Clodfelter" /><br>379 captured<ref name="Hughes137" />
| notes             = 
}}
{{Campaignbox Arab Cold War}}
{{History of Morocco}}
{{History of Algeria}}
The '''Sand War''' ({{Langx|ar|rtl=yes|حَرْبُ الرِّمَال|Ḥarb ar-Rimāl}}) was a border conflict between [[Algeria]] and [[Morocco]] fought from September 25 to October 30, 1963, although a formal peace treaty was not signed until February 20, 1964. It resulted largely from the Moroccan government's claim to portions of Algeria's [[Tindouf Province|Tindouf]] and [[Béchar Province|Béchar]] provinces. The Sand War led to heightened tensions between the two countries for several decades.

Full-blown confrontation began on September 25, 1963, once Moroccan forces occupied the border towns of Hassi Beida and Tindjoub, beginning a battle with Algerian forces for control over the towns. In the north, Algeria opened a front near Ich, while Morocco launched an offensive towards Tindouf in the south. Cuban troops arrived in Algeria to prepare for an offensive into eastern Morocco, prompting Morocco to prepare for a second offensive towards Tindouf. However, both attacks were suspended, and a ceasefire was officially declared on October 30, 1963. This ceasefire marked the first multinational peacekeeping mission conducted by the [[Organisation of African Unity]]. A formal peace treaty was eventually signed on February 20, 1964.

== Background ==
Three factors contributed to the outbreak of the conflict: the absence of a precise delineation of the [[Algeria–Morocco border|border]] between Algeria and Morocco, the discovery of important mineral resources in the disputed area, and the Moroccan [[irredentism]] fueled by the [[Greater Morocco]]{{sfn|Touval|1967|p=106}} ideology of the [[Istiqlal Party]] and [[Allal al-Fassi]].<ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/biography/mohamed-allal-al-fassi/ Biography of Allal al-Fassi]</ref>

=== Pre-colonial era ===
Before French colonization of the region in the nineteenth century, part of what is now southern and western Algeria was under Moroccan influence, and no border was defined.<ref name="countrystudies">[http://countrystudies.us/algeria/157.htm ''Security Problems with Neighboring States''] – Countrystudies.us</ref> In the Treaty of Lalla [[Maghnia]] (March 18, 1845), which set the border between [[French Algeria]] and Morocco, it is stipulated that "a territory without water is uninhabitable and its boundaries are superfluous"<ref>Article 6 du traité, cité par Zartman, page 163</ref> and the border is delineated over only 165&nbsp;km.{{sfn|Reyner|1963|p=316}} Beyond that there is only one border area, without limit, punctuated by tribal territories attached to Morocco or Algeria.

In the 1890s, the French administration and military called for the annexation of the [[Tuat]] region.<ref>Frank E. Trout, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/216479 ''Morocco's Boundary in the Guir-Zousfana River Basin''], in: ''African Historical Studies'', Vol. 3, No. 1 (1970), pp. 37–56, Publ. Boston University African Studies Center: « The Algerian-Moroccan conflict can be said to have begun in 1890s when the administration and military in Algeria called for the annexation of the Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt, a sizable expanse of Saharan oases that was nominally a part of the Moroccan Empire (...) The Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt oases had been an appendage of the Moroccan Empire, jutting southeast for about 750 kilometres into the Saharan desert »</ref> Tuat owed religious<ref>{{Cite book|last=Windrow|first=Martin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Da6HCwAAQBAJ&q=touat+morocco+tribe&pg=PT55|title=French Foreign Legion 1872–1914|date=2011-12-20|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-78096-237-5|language=en}}</ref> and tributary allegiance to the Sultans of Morocco, although it was separated from both Algeria and Morocco by a largely uninhabited desert.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Morell|first=John Reynell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REVCAAAAIAAJ&q=touat+morocco+tribe&pg=PA51|title=Algeria: The Topography and History, Political, Social, and Natural, of French Africa|date=1854|publisher=N. Cooke|language=en}}</ref>

The French [[19th Army Corps (France)|19th Army Corps]]' Oran and Algiers Divisions fought the Aït Khabbash, a fraction of the Aït Ounbgui ''khams'' of the [[Aït Atta]] confederation. The Moroccan viceroy of [[Tafilalt]], who was in charge of collecting tribute from the region, refrained from interfering in the conflict, and the local tribes were left to fend for themselves. Although the Moroccan state did not interfere in the annexation of the Tuat region, several Moroccan tribes independently sent volunteers to fight against the French.<ref>{{Cite book|last=III|first=Edmund Burke|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJIM45sajbYC&q=touat+morocco+tribe&pg=PA46|title=Prelude to Protectorate in Morocco: Pre-Colonial Protest and Resistance, 1860-1912|date=2009-02-15|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-08084-0|language=en}}</ref> The conflict ended with the annexation of the Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt complex by France in 1901.<ref>Claude Lefébure, [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/remmm_0035-1474_1986_num_41_1_2114 ''Ayt Khebbach, impasse sud-est. L'involution d'une tribu marocaine exclue du Sahara''], in: Revue de l'Occident musulman et de la Méditerranée, N°41–42, 1986. Désert et montagne au Maghreb. pp. 136–157: « les Divisions d'Oran et d'Alger du 19e Corps d'armée n'ont pu conquérir le Touat et le Gourara qu'au prix de durs combats menés contre les semi-nomades d'obédience marocaine qui, depuis plus d'un siècle, imposaient leur protection aux oasiens »</ref>

=== Colonial era ===
In 1903, France also began expanding westwards towards [[Béchar]] and [[Tindouf]]. They defeated the local tribesmen at the [[Battle of Taghit]] and the [[Battle of El-Moungar]] although they did not annex the region into French Algeria. The borders around the region were loosely defined.

After Morocco became a French protectorate in 1912, the French administration set borders between the two territories, but the tracks were often misidentified (Varnier line in 1912, Trinquet line in 1938) and varied from one map to another{{sfn|Reyner|1963|p=317}} since for the French administration, they were not international borders and the area was virtually uninhabited.{{sfn|Heggoy|1970}} The discovery of large deposits of oil and minerals (iron, manganese) in the region led France to define more precisely the territories, and in 1952 the French decided to integrate [[Tindouf]] and [[Colomb-Béchar]] into the French departments of Algeria.{{sfn|Farsoun|Paul|1976|p=13}}

In 1956, France relinquished its protectorate in Morocco, which immediately demanded the return of the disputed departments, especially Tindouf.{{sfn|Bidwell|1998|page=415}} The French government refused.{{sfn|Bidwell|1998|page=414}}

=== Algerian War and Independence ===
During the [[Algerian War]], Morocco backed the [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|National Liberation Front]], Algeria's leading nationalist movement, in its guerrilla campaign against the French.{{sfn|Bidwell|1998|page=415}} However, one of the FLN's primary objectives was to prevent France from splitting the strategic Sahara regions from a future Algerian state. It was, therefore, disinclined to support Morocco's historical claims to Tindouf and Bechar or the concept of a [[Greater Morocco]].{{sfn|Touval|1967|p=106}}

Upon Algerian independence, the FLN announced it would apply the principle of ''[[uti possidetis]]'' to pre-existing colonial borders. King [[Hassan II of Morocco]] visited [[Algiers]] in March 1963 to discuss the undefined borders, but Algeria's President [[Ahmed Ben Bella]] believed the matter should be resolved at a later date.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=327}} Ben Bella's fledgling administration was still attempting to rebuild the country after the enormous damage caused by the Algerian War and was preoccupied with an insurgency by the [[Socialist Forces Front|FFS]], led by [[Hocine Aït Ahmed]], opposed to Ben Bella's autocratic rule. Algerian authorities suspected that Morocco was inciting the revolt, and Hassan II was anxious about his own opposition's reverence for Algeria, which escalated tensions between the nations.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=39}} Those factors prompted Hassan to begin moving troops towards Tindouf.{{sfn|Bidwell|1998|page=414}}

== Armies and weapons ==
=== Algeria ===
The [[Algerian military]], recently formed from the [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] ranks of the FLN's [[National Liberation Army (Algeria)|National Liberation Army]] (ALN), was still oriented towards [[asymmetric warfare]], and had few heavy weapons.<ref>[http://www.themilitant.com/2003/6743/674359.html ''How Cuba aided revolutionary Algeria in 1963''] – themilitant.com</ref> Its logistics was also complicated by its vast array of largely-obsolete weapons from a number of diverse sources, including France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and the United States.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=41}} The Algerian Army had ordered a large number of [[AMX-13]] light tanks from France in 1962,<ref name="trade">{{cite web |title=Trade Registers |url=http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/trade_register.php |access-date=2013-06-20 |publisher=Armstrade.sipri.org}}</ref> but at the time of fighting, only twelve were in service.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=41}} Ironically, at least four AMX-13s had also been donated by Morocco a year earlier.<ref name="trade" /> The Soviet Union supplied Algeria with ten [[T-34]] tanks, but they were equipped for clearing minefields and were delivered without turrets or armament.<ref name="trade" />{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=41}} The Algerian army also lacked trucks, aircraft, and jeeps.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=41}} In 1963, the size of the Algerian army was 48,000 troops and it had a military budget of $66 million.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Bloomfield |first1=Lincoln Palmer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z9Tf7IdtIRcC |title=The Control of Local Conflict: A Design Study on Arms Control and Limited War in the Developing Areas |last2=Leiss |first2=Amelia Catherine |date=1967 |publisher=Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology |pages=517–521 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Morocco ===
The [[Moroccan military]] was smaller but comparatively well-equipped and frequently took advantage of its superior firepower on the battlefield.<ref name="countrystudies" /><ref>[http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/alpha/algmor1963.htm ''Armed Conflict Events Data''] – Onwar.com</ref> They possessed forty [[T-54]] main battle tanks that they had purchased from the Soviet Union, twelve [[SU-100]] tank destroyers, seventeen AMX-13s, and a fleet of gun-armed [[Panhard EBR]] armored cars.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=41}} Morocco also possessed modern strike aircraft unlike Algeria.<ref name="trade" /> In 1963, the army had 34,843 troops and a military budget of $94 million.<ref name=":0" />

== Course of the war ==
[[File:Sand War.ogv|thumb|right|1963 American news footage from the conflict]]

=== Battles of Hassi Beida and Tindjoub ===
Weeks of skirmishes along the border eventually escalated into a full-blown confrontation on September 25, 1963, with intense fighting around the oasis towns of [[Tindouf]] and [[Figuig]].{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=44}} The [[Royal Moroccan Army]] soon crossed into Algeria in force and succeeded in taking the two border posts of Hassi Beida and Tindjoub.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=40}} On October 5, representatives from Morocco and Algeria convened at [[Oujda]] to negotiate but were unable to find a solution.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=40}} The Moroccans were determined to adjust the border, and the Algerians would not allow it, which resulted in an impasse.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=40}} Morocco mobilized 30,000 to 40,000 men, while Algeria mobilized a similar amount.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Laínez |first=Fernando María |date=1976 |title=Marruecos-Argelia, primer asalto |url=http://www.lamilienelsahara.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AP_035b_PrimerAsalto.pdf}}</ref>

The Algerian forces began to retaliate against the Moroccan advances by taking back the posts of Hassi Beida and Tindjoub on October 8 and killing 10 Moroccan soldiers.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=328}} Morocco claimed that this Algerian attack caused it 20 injuries and 80 disappeared.<ref name=":5" /> This prompted further attempts at negotiations, but these proved ineffectual as well.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=328}}

The capture of Hassi Beida involved 1,000 Moroccan soldiers under the command of Colonel Habibi, who started from bases near [[Ouarzazate]]. Moroccan infantry advanced along camel roads until 4:00&nbsp;a.m. The battle involved mortars and heavy machine guns. Tinjoub held out for about 2 hours until 7:30 a.m, while Hassi Beida held out for another hour.<ref name=":5" /> The larger Moroccan Army retook the two posts during the week of October 14, killing at least 10 Algerians in the process. The Algerians retreated to [[Tinfouchy]]. During the battle, there were 1,000 Moroccan troops armed with bazookas, recoilless cannons, heavy machine guns and tanks. It is asserted that 3,000 Algerian troops took part in the battle. Little use of airpower has been reported, except for an Algerian plane that bombarded Oued Zeknou.<ref name=":0" /> This battle cut the route from Bechar to Tindouf and the passage of caravans through the area.<ref name=":5" />

Algeria was strongly disadvantagedm as the front was within the range of the Saharan military district of Morocco and accessible to logistical support, but the fighting took place 750 miles away from the capital, [[Algiers]], and Algerian troops were committed to suppressing the [[Socialist Forces Front rebellion in Algeria|Socialist Forces Front rebellion]] in the region of Kabylia, which Algeria eventually succeeded in suppressing.<ref name=":0" /> On October 15, Ben Bella called for a remobilization of the National Liberation Army to repel the Moroccan invaders.{{sfn|Farsoun|Paul|1976}} Negotiations for a ceasefire failed again in [[Marrakesh]] on October 15–17.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Wild |first=Patricia Berko |date=1966 |title=The Organization of African Unity and the Algerian-Moroccan Border Conflict: A Study of New Machinery for Peacekeeping and for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes among African States |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2705788 |journal=International Organization |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=18–36 |doi=10.1017/S0020818300002733 |jstor=2705788 |s2cid=154714888 |issn=0020-8183|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

On October 20, Moroccan spokesmen reported the capture of an Algerian Army helicopter with five Egyptian officers on board.<ref name=":4" /> On October 23, Moroccan soldiers tried to attack the town of Hassi-Taghucht post, 90&nbsp;km south of Tauz, and Algerian units tried to encircle and attack the town of Usada, 10&nbsp;km from Zedgu. However, both attacks were repulsed. The Algerian Army launched another counterattack against Hassi Beida with heavy material, however it withdrew after being repulsed, leaving almost a hundred dead on the ground.<ref name=":5" />

=== Reactions to the outbreak of war ===
[[File:Frontière Maroc-Algérie 1963.svg|thumb|300x300px|Border between Morocco and Algeria in 1963]]
Despite internal discontent with the Algerian government, most of the country supported the war effort, which Algerians generally perceived as an act of Moroccan aggression. Even in regions in which Ben Bella's regime remained deeply unpopular, such as [[Kabylia]], the population offered to take up arms against the Moroccan invaders.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=47}} Morocco's invasion proved to be a diplomatic blunder, as the other Arab and African states refused to recognize its border claims. [[Egypt]] ([[United Arab Republic]]) even began sending troops and defense hardware in late October to bolster the Algerian military by sending about 1,000 troops to Algeria.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=47}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Ottaway |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dq1hEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA166 |title=Algeria: The Politics of a Socialist Revolution |last2=Ottaway |first2=Marina |date=2022-03-25 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-35711-2 |pages=166 |language=en}}</ref>

Morocco's Western allies provided assistance after its formal requests for military aid.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=47}} The United States feared the escalation and internationalization of the war, particularly wanting to avoid Soviet intervention, and therefore advocated for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=47}} The United States opposed Hassan's interpretation of inter-Arab rivalry's effect on North Africa.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Torres-Garcia |first=Ana |date=March 2013 |title=US diplomacy and the North African 'War of the Sands' (1963) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263522606 |journal=ResearchGate}}</ref> Despite Hassan's request, France, Spain, and the United States refused to provide him with military assistance in an effort to isolate the conflict.<ref name=":4" /> Ben Bella claimed that the conflict had been deliberately provoked by "feudal" Morocco with the encouragement of the United States in order to crush Algeria's [[Arab socialism|socialist]] revolution.<ref name=":2" />

=== Northern front ===
On October 18, the Algerians opened a new front along the border in the north, near the more highly-developed [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] region of northern Algeria and in a portion of the border that was not contested by Morocco. That represented the first intensification of the hostilities and enlarged the war to the north.<ref name=":0" /> On October 18, the Algerians attacked the town of Ich, a border oasis 80 miles northeast of [[Figuig]], which forced the Moroccans to withdraw.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=329}} The Moroccan casualties were a few dozen missing.<ref name=":5" /> On the next day, the Algerians bombarded the [[Tendrara|Tindrara]] region in [[Oujda]] province.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Division |first=American University (Washington, D. C. ) Foreign Areas Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vt9yAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA414 |title=Area Handbook for Morocco |date=1966 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=414 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Tindouf offensive ===
On October 13, 1963, Moroccan ground units launched a major offensive on Tindouf. It stalled from unexpectedly-stubborn resistance from the town's Algerian and Egyptian garrison.{{sfn|Goldstein|1992|p=174}}

On October 28, 1963, Moroccan forces had planned a second offensive on Tindouf and occupied positions about 4&nbsp;km from the settlement.{{sfn|Bidwell|1998|page=414}} However, Hassan was reluctant to authorise it for fear that another battle would prompt further military intervention from Algeria's allies.{{sfn|Bidwell|1998|page=414}}

=== Cuban arrival ===
On October 22, hundreds of [[Cuba|Cuban]] troops arrived at [[Oran]].{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=45}} The troops were sent at the request of Ben Bella though he would later deny that in 1997.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|pp=41,46}} Just years after the victory of their own revolution, many Cubans identified with the Algerians and were eager to support them.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=41}} They also suspected that Washington was hoping that the war would precipitate Ben Bella's downfall, which [[Fidel Castro]] was determined to prevent.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=41}} For those reasons, the Cuban government formed the ''Grupo Especial de Instrucción'', which was sent to Algeria.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=42}} Its forces included twenty-two T-34 tanks, eighteen 120-mm mortars, a battery of 57-mm recoilless rifles, anti-aircraft artillery with eighteen guns, and eighteen 122mm field guns with the crews to operate them.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=44}} The unit was made up of 686 men under the command of [[Efigenio Ameijeiras]].{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=44}}

Although they were initially described as an advisory contingent to train the Algerian Army, Castro also authorized their deployment in combat actions to safeguard Algeria's territorial integrity.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=45}} The Cubans offloaded their equipment and transported it to the southwestern front by rail. The troops provided training to the Algerians, and their medical team offered the population free healthcare.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=48}} While Castro had hoped to keep Cuba's intervention covert, and a number of the Cuban personnel wore Algerian uniforms, they were observed by French military and diplomatic staff in Oran, and word of their presence soon leaked to the Western press.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=45}}

=== Operation Dignidad ===
Algeria and Cuba planned a major counteroffensive, ''Operation Dignidad'', aimed at driving the Moroccan forces back across the border and capturing Berguent. From Oran, the Cuban military with armored vehicles on a train of 12 wagons and 42 open platforms travelled 70&nbsp;km southwest to the city of [[Sidi Bel Abbès|Sidi Bel Abbes]], and then another 10&nbsp;km along the road to the border town of [[Ras El Ma, Sid Bel Abbès|Ras El Ma]], where they settled in Bedo barracks. The Cuban military immediately began preparations for battle. [[Efigenio Ameijeiras|Ameijeiras]], Bravo and other senior officers went to the city of [[Béchar|Colomb-Bechar]], where the headquarters of the Algerian Minister of Defense [[Houari Boumédiène]] was located. By then, the Algerian military had already developed a strategy to confront the Moroccans. At a command meeting in Colomb-Béchar, Defense Minister Boumédiène set the task of capturing as many of the border areas of Morocco as possible, which would allow Algeria to negotiate from a position of strength. [[Efigenio Ameijeiras]] resolutely declared, "We won't stop until we get to [[Casablanca]]."<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Трещёв |first=Вадим |date=16 September 2021 |title=Кубинцы в Африке: первая миссия |url=https://warspot.ru/20416-kubintsy-v-afrike-pervaya-missiya}}</ref>

On the evening of October 28, 1963, the commander of the tank battalion, Captain Melquiades Gonzalez, reported to Ameijeiras that the [[T-34]]s were ready for the offensive.<ref name=":3" /> It was scheduled for the early hours of October 29. However, Ben Bella suspended the attack at 1:00&nbsp;a.m. to proceed with negotiations to end the war peacefully.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=47}}

=== Ceasefire ===
[[File:Bamako Agreement.png|thumb|300x300px|Ahmed Ben Bella, Hassan II and Haile Selassie during the Bamako Accords]]
Multiple actors, including the [[Arab League]], [[Tunisia]]'s [[Habib Bourguiba]], [[Libya]]'s [[King Idris]], and [[Ethiopia]]'s Emperor [[Haile Selassie]], sought to moderate negotiations.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=335}} [[Egypt]]'s [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] sent a letter to Hassan II to urge him to stop the fighting. In his message, he condemned the Moroccan attack and justified his support for Algeria and suggested a ceasefire and both armies returning to their positions prior to the 8 October attack.<ref name=":1" /> The [[United Nations]] received many pleas to issue a ceasefire appeal, but [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|Secretary-General]] [[U Thant]] wanted to allow regional initiatives to pursue a solution.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=335}}

On October 10, the Arab League called for a withdrawal of troops and reconciliation.<ref name=":0" /> On October 29, Hassan and Ben Bella met to negotiate in [[Bamako]], [[Mali]], joined by Emperor Selassie and [[Mali]]'s [[Modibo Keïta]].{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=339}} After the four leaders met alone on October 30, a truce was declared.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=339}} The accord mandated a ceasefire for November 2 and announced that a commission consisting of Moroccan, Algerian, Ethiopian, and Malian officers would decide the boundaries of a [[demilitarized zone]].{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=339}} It was also determined that an Ethiopian and Malian team would observe the neutrality of the demilitarized zone.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=339}} Finally, the accord suggested an immediate gathering of the Foreign Ministers of the [[Organisation of African Unity]] (OAU).{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=339}} The meeting would be held to set up a commission to determine who was responsible for starting the war and to examine the frontier question and suggest methods for bringing about a lasting settlement of the conflict.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=339}}

=== Battle of Figuig ===
The ceasefire was almost jeopardized on November 1, when Algerian troops assaulted a village near [[Figuig]] and positioned themselves against the town's airport.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=340}} Surrounded by Algerians, the town was assaulted with Algerian infantry and artillery. The Moroccans claimed to have beaten them off. The town has been under heavy shell fire and the number of dead civilians was reported to be at least 60.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MOROCCO: BORDER WAR: THE BATTLE FOR FIGUIG. |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/ |access-date=2023-06-17 |website=British Pathé |language=en-GB}}</ref> Fighting continued for two days after a cease-fire was to have taken effect, and Morocco reportedly pressed for the [[United Nations Security Council]] to consider the Algerian-Moroccan border dispute.<ref>{{Cite news | author = Peter Grose |date=1963-11-04 |title=MOROCCO PRESSES FOR U.N. HEARING AS FIRING GOES ON; West's View on Taking Fight to Council Sought--Attack by Algeria Reported Response Is Unenthusiastic Bombardments Continued MOROCCO PRESSES FOR U.N. HEARING |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/04/archives/morocco-presses-for-un-hearing-as-firing-goes-on-wests-view-on.html |access-date=2023-06-17 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', the Algerian artillery barrage at the border town appeared to have erased the ceasefire agreement.<ref>{{Cite news| author=Peter Grose |date=1963-11-03 |title=TRUCE IN SAHARA REMAINS IN DOUBT AFTER NEW CLASH; Moroccans and Algerians Exchange Accusations on Breach in Figuig Area Attack and Counterattack Algerian Tells of Attack TRUCE IN SAHARA REMAINS IN DOUBT |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/03/archives/truce-in-sahara-remains-in-doubt-after-new-clash-moroccans-and.html |access-date=2023-06-17 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The attack was denounced and dramatized by the Moroccan government.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=340}} Algerian Foreign Minister [[Abdelaziz Bouteflika]] expressed confidence that "wisdom will triumph" and that Algeria and Morocco would end renewed border fighting near the Moroccan town of Figuig.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Peter Braestrup |date=1963-11-03 |title=Algeria Expresses Hope; Algeria Says Firing Ceases |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/03/archives/algeria-expresses-hope-algeria-says-firing-ceases.html |access-date=2023-06-17 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> A Malian officer arrived on November 4 and enforced the Bamako Accord, ending the hostilities.{{sfn|Torres-García|2013|page=340}}

=== Peace treaty ===
The OAU mediated a formal peace treaty on February 20, 1964.<ref>[http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=4&reading_id=119&sequence=18 ''The 1963 border war and the 1972 treaty''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927173041/http://arabworld.nitle.org/texts.php?module_id=4&reading_id=119&sequence=18 |date=2006-09-27 }} – Arabworld.nitle.org</ref> The treaty was signed in Mali following a number of preliminary discussions between Hassan and Ben Bella.{{sfn|Bidwell|1998|page=414}} The agreement's terms included a reaffirmation of the previously-established borders in Algeria's favor and the restoration of the status quo.{{sfn|Gleijeses|2002|p=47}} The demilitarized zone was maintained in the meantime and was monitored by the OAU's first multinational peacekeeping force.{{sfn|Goldstein|1992|p=174}}

== Casualties ==
French sources reported Algerian casualties to be 60 dead and 250 wounded,<ref name="Mikaberidze" /> with later works giving a number of 300 Algerian dead.<ref name="Clodfelter" /> Morocco officially reported to have suffered 39 dead.<ref name="Hughes137" /> Moroccan losses were probably lower than the Algerians' but are unconfirmed,<ref name="Mikaberidze" /> with later sources reporting 200 Moroccan dead.<ref name="Clodfelter" /> About 57 Moroccans and 379 Algerians were [[Prisoner of war|taken prisoner]].<ref name="Hughes137" />

== Aftermath ==
The Sand War laid the foundations for a lasting and often intensely-hostile rivalry between Morocco and Algeria, exacerbated by the differences in political outlook between the [[conservative]] Moroccan [[monarchy]] and the [[revolutionary]] Arab socialist Algerian military government.<ref name="countrystudies" /><ref>[http://mondediplo.com/1999/12/06algm?var_recherche=maroc ''Algiers and Rabat, still miles apart''] – ''Le Monde'' Diplomatique</ref> In January 1969, Algerian President [[Houari Boumédiène]] made a state visit to Morocco and signed a treaty of friendship with Hassan's government in [[Ifrane]].{{sfn|Bidwell|1998|page=414}} The following year the two leaders set up a commission to demarcate the border and examine prospects for joint efforts to mine iron ore in the disputed region.{{sfn|Bidwell|1998|page=414}} Morocco finally abandoned all claims to Algerian territory in 1972 with the Accord of Ifrane, though Morocco refused to ratify the agreement until 1989.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zunes|first=Stephen|date=Summer 1995|title=Algeria, The Maghreb Union, & the Western Sahara Stalemate|jstor=41858127|journal=Arab Studies Quarterly|volume=17 |issue=3|pages=29}}</ref>

The governments of both Morocco and Algeria used the war to describe [[opposition (politics)|opposition]] movements as unpatriotic. The Moroccan [[National Union of Popular Forces|UNFP]] and the Algerian-Berber [[Socialist Forces Front|FFS]] of [[Hocine Aït Ahmed|Aït Ahmed]] both suffered as a result. In the case of UNFP, its leader, [[Mehdi Ben Barka]], sided with Algeria, and was sentenced to [[death]] ''[[trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' as a result. In Algeria, the armed rebellion of the FFS in Kabylie fizzled out, as commanders defected to join the national forces against Morocco.

The rivalry between Morocco and Algeria exemplified in the Sand War also influenced Algeria's policy regarding the conflict in [[Western Sahara]], with Algeria backing an [[independence]]-minded [[Sahrawi people|Sahrawi]] guerrilla organization, the [[Polisario Front]], partly to curb Moroccan expansionism in the wake of the attempt to annex Tindouf.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KUKPAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |title=Civil Resistance and Conflict Transformation: Transitions from Armed to Nonviolent Struggle |editor-first=Véronique |editor-last=Dudouet |first1=Jacob |last1=Mundy |first2=Stephen |last2=Zunes |chapter=Western Sahara: Nonviolent resistance as a last resort |page=24 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317697787 |year=2014}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of modern conflicts in North Africa]]
* [[Algeria–Morocco border]]
* [[Algeria–Morocco relations]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book|last=Bidwell|first=Robin|title=Dictionary Of Modern Arab History|date=1998|publisher=Kegan Paul International|location=South Glamorgan|isbn=978-1138967670}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gleijeses|first=Piero|title= Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington and Africa, 1959–1976 |location= Chapel Hill,&nbsp;NC |publisher= University of North Carolina Press |year= 2002 |isbn= 978-0-807-82647-8 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Goldstein|first=Erik|title= Wars and Peace Treaties: 1816 to 1991 |location= Oxfordshire |publisher= Routledge Books |year= 1992 |isbn= 978-0415078221 }}
* {{citation | last1=Farsoun | first1=K. | last2=Paul | first2=J. | year=1976 | title=War in the Sahara: 1963 | journal=Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) Reports | volume=45 | issue=45 | pages=13–16 | jstor=3011767 }}. Link requires subscription to Jstor.
* {{citation | last=Heggoy | first=A.A. | year=1970 | title= Colonial origins of the Algerian-Moroccan border conflict of October 1963 | journal=African Studies Review | volume=13 | issue=1 | pages=17–22 | jstor= 523680 | doi=10.2307/523680 | s2cid=145424137 }}. Link requires subscription to Jstor.
* {{Citation |last=Ottaway|first=David|title=Algeria: The Politics of a Socialist Revolution|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, California |year=1970|isbn=9780520016552}}
* {{citation | last=Reyner | first=A.S. | year=1963 | title=Morocco's international boundaries: a factual background | journal=Journal of Modern African Studies | volume=1 | issue=3 | pages=313–326 | jstor=158912 | doi=10.1017/s0022278x00001725| s2cid=154868086 }}. Link requires subscription to Jstor.
* {{Citation |last=Torres-García |first=Ana |journal=The Journal of North African Studies |volume=18 |issue=2 |year=2013 |title=US diplomacy and the North African 'War of the Sands' (1963) |pages=324–48 |doi=10.1080/13629387.2013.767041 |s2cid=144944978}}
* {{citation |last=Touval | first=S. | year=1967| title= The Organization of African Unity and African borders | journal= International Organization | volume=21 | issue=1 | pages=102–127 | jstor= 2705705 | doi=10.1017/s0020818300013151| s2cid=154805054 }}. Link requires subscription to Jstor.
* Stephen O. Hughes, ''Morocco under King Hassan'', Garnet & Ithaca Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-8637-2285-7}}
* Zunes, Stephen (1995). "Algeria, The Maghreb Union, and the Western Sahara Stalemate." ''Arab Studies Quarterly'', 17 (3): 23–36. {{JSTOR|41858127}}.

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | last=Pennell | first=C.R. | year=2000 | title=Morocco Since 1830. A History | publisher=New York University Press | location=New York | isbn=978-0-8147-6676-7}}
* {{cite book | last=Stora | first=B. | year=2004 | title=Algeria 1830–2000. A Short History | publisher=Cornell University Press | location=Ithaca | isbn=978-0-8014-3715-1 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/algeria18302000s00stor }}

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