Everything about Tifariti totally explained
Tifariti is a small town or village located in
Polisario-controlled
Western Sahara, east of the
Moroccan Berm. It is part of what Polisario call the
Free Zone and
Morocco call the
Buffer Zone.
Primarily a nomadic encampment, it was always a kind of seasonal town for the
Sahrawis,an
Arabic-speaking
Bedouin people controlling the area since
medieval times. Now mostly in ruins, it's estimated that Tifariti had a population of approximately 7,000 inhabitants in 1975. Its inhabitants largely abandoned the town in 1976 because of the war with Morocco. Tifariti never had many fixed structures, due to the nomadic lifestyle of the
Sahrawis. It is located in a rugged desert area, with little vegetation.
Tifariti is located between a traditional spiritual centre of the Sahara, the tomb of
Ma El Ainin (50 km) and the Algerian town of
Tindouf (90 km).
Tifariti was the place of several battles during the
Moroccan-Polisario war (1975-1991) and served as a military base and stronghold for both sides at various points of the war. It was used as a stopping place for Sahrawi refugees en route to
Tindouf,
Algeria during the invasion phase. During the 1980s, the
Moroccan Wall was constructed north of Tifariti, and the terrain around the town remains heavily
mined.
Hospitals and administrative buildings were built here between 1989 and 1991 by foreign aid agencies in preparation for a Sahrawi refugee return to Western Sahara, for the holding of a UN-backed referendum on either independence or integration with Morocco.
A
United Nations airstrip and a base for the
Minurso's
peace keeping forces is situated close to Tifariti.
In October
2002, the
Polisario held its XI General Popular Congress here, electing officials to its executive National Secretariat, the exile parliament of the Sahrawi National Council, as well as reelecting
Mohamed Abdelaziz as Secretary General, as has been the case since 1976.
Further Information
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