The mid-twentieth century witnessed the unraveling of European colonial empires across Africa and Asia, and among the most consequential of these independence struggles was the Moroccan fight to end the French and Spanish protectorates that had divided the country for decades. At the heart of that resistance stood a loosely organized but determined force known as the Army of Liberation, a coalition of militias that would shape not only Moroccan independence but also the long and unresolved conflict over the Western Sahara that persists to this day.
Morocco had been divided between French and Spanish zones of influence since the early twentieth century, with France controlling the central and southern portions of the country and Spain holding territories in the north, the far south, and several coastal enclaves. Resistance to colonial rule had never fully disappeared, but it took on new urgency following two events that galvanized nationalist sentiment across North Africa. The assassination of Farhat Hached, a prominent Tunisian labor union leader, and the forced exile of King Mohamed ben Youssef — a monarch widely beloved as a symbol of Moroccan national identity — transformed scattered rural resistance into something more purposeful and coordinated.
In 1955, the Army of Liberation was founded as an attempt to organize the various factions of armed resistance that had been operating independently across the Moroccan countryside. The founding drew on the influence of Abdelkrim El Khattabi, a legendary figure of anti-colonial resistance who had led the Rif War against Spanish and French forces in the 1920s. Through commanders including Abbas Messaadi and Sellam Amezian, El Khattabi's guidance helped give shape and strategic direction to a movement that might otherwise have remained fragmented and ineffective.
The Army of Liberation did not operate with the discipline or equipment of a conventional military force. It was, in essence, a confederation of rural militias united by a common goal rather than a single command structure. Its strength lay in intimate knowledge of local terrain, the loyalty of rural populations, and a willingness to employ guerrilla tactics that confounded better-equipped Spanish and French forces. These qualities made it a significant fighting force despite its organizational limitations.
As Moroccan independence drew nearer, units of the Army began moving their operations southward in 1956, infiltrating Ifni and other Spanish enclaves along the Atlantic coast, as well as Spanish Sahara — the vast desert territory stretching along the Atlantic that is today known as Western Sahara. This expansion was initially supported by the newly independent Moroccan government, which saw the Army as an instrument for pressing its territorial claims. In the Spanish Sahara, the Army rallied Sahrawi tribal communities along its route, triggering a large-scale rebellion against Spanish colonial rule.
The Spanish Sahara campaign took on a life of its own. In early 1958, King Mohamed reorganized the Army of Liberation units fighting there into a distinct formation called the Saharan Liberation Army, also referred to as the Southern Liberation Army or ALS. The organization attracted leaders of considerable prestige, including Abderrahmane Youssoufi, Fqih Basri, and Bensaid Ait Idder, figures who would later become prominent in Moroccan political life.
The rebellion in Spanish Sahara was ultimately suppressed in 1958 through a joint French and Spanish military offensive. What happened next remains a source of considerable controversy. As the guerrilla fighters retreated, they found themselves hindered not by their colonial adversaries but by the regular Moroccan Army, which effectively blocked their escape and allowed Spanish and French forces to neutralize them. The King of Morocco subsequently signed an agreement with Spain under which Spain returned the province of Tarfaya to Morocco, a transaction that critics interpreted as a trade of the surviving guerrilla fighters' interests for a territorial concession.
Part of the Army of Liberation was absorbed into the formal Moroccan armed forces following independence, while other elements dispersed. The legacy of the organization became deeply contested along lines that mirror the broader Western Sahara conflict itself. Morocco regards the Army of Liberation's battles in the territory as historical proof of Western Sahara's loyalty to the Moroccan crown, pointing to the Sahrawi tribes who rallied to its banner as evidence of a pre-existing bond between the Sahrawi people and the Moroccan state.
The Polisario Front, the Sahrawi independence movement that has fought for self-determination since 1973, and its supporters interpret the same history very differently. From their perspective, the Army of Liberation was an anti-colonial force fighting against Spanish rule, not an expression of loyalty to Morocco. The fact that Sahrawi fighters joined the Army, in this reading, reflects their desire for liberation from colonialism in any form, not an endorsement of Moroccan sovereignty.
The ambiguity is deepened by the personal histories of the individuals involved. Veterans of the Army of Liberation can be found today on both sides of the conflict — some serving the Kingdom of Morocco, others aligned with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic proclaimed by Polisario. Both states claim the Army as part of their political heritage. Among the most poignant of these biographical connections is the case of Mohammed Abdelaziz, who served for decades as the president of Polisario and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, while his father was a member of the Army of Liberation and later of Morocco's royal advisory council. The Army of Liberation, born in resistance, became in death a mirror for a conflict that neither side has yet been able to resolve.
