Ain Ben Tili
Western Sahara /
as-Samarah /
World
/ Western Sahara
/ as-Samarah
/ as-Samarah
, 249 km from center (السمارة)
World / Western Sahara
military, village
Ain Ben Tili (Arabic: عين بن تيلي) is a small village-fort in northeast Mauritania, on the border with Western Sahara. It is part of the Tiris Zemmour region.
The fort was constructed by the French in 1934 during a campaign aimed at the pacification of the Sahara led by "General Trinquet".This was part of a larger scale French military effort to effectively occupy the interior of the Sahara (e.g. Tindouf or Smara) which were previously exempt from any foreign presence.
In 1961, the fort was returned to Mauritania which kept in there a small military garrison. On 20 January 1976, the Polisario surrounded and attacked the isolated fort killing the few Mauritanians which were stationed there. During this attack, a Mauritanian "Commandant" (Soueidatt Ould Weddad) was killed and a Moroccan Northrop F-5 fighter aircraft called for support was shot down by the Polisario. The latter kept the fort, until the Moroccan army took over it in 1977 only to abandon it two years later since it proved difficult to defend against the Polisario's raids.
After the 1991 cease-fire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, the United Nations' MINURSO has occasionally sheltered some of its personnel at the fort.
Ain Ben Tili is currently occupied by the Mauritanian military who are attempting to secure the border area from al-Quada militants based in Mali who "raid" into Northern Mauritania and are connected to the many smugglers who operate in the greater Sahara region. In April 2010 we passed through the fort and registered our presence with the commander. (from wikipedia:)
The fort was constructed by the French in 1934 during a campaign aimed at the pacification of the Sahara led by "General Trinquet".This was part of a larger scale French military effort to effectively occupy the interior of the Sahara (e.g. Tindouf or Smara) which were previously exempt from any foreign presence.
In 1961, the fort was returned to Mauritania which kept in there a small military garrison. On 20 January 1976, the Polisario surrounded and attacked the isolated fort killing the few Mauritanians which were stationed there. During this attack, a Mauritanian "Commandant" (Soueidatt Ould Weddad) was killed and a Moroccan Northrop F-5 fighter aircraft called for support was shot down by the Polisario. The latter kept the fort, until the Moroccan army took over it in 1977 only to abandon it two years later since it proved difficult to defend against the Polisario's raids.
After the 1991 cease-fire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, the United Nations' MINURSO has occasionally sheltered some of its personnel at the fort.
Ain Ben Tili is currently occupied by the Mauritanian military who are attempting to secure the border area from al-Quada militants based in Mali who "raid" into Northern Mauritania and are connected to the many smugglers who operate in the greater Sahara region. In April 2010 we passed through the fort and registered our presence with the commander. (from wikipedia:)
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain_Ben_Tili
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 25°59'59"N 9°32'38"W
- PS 100 km
- point suport 115 km
- point suport 116 km
- point suport 117 km
- point suport blinde 122 km
- point du suport 122 km
- point suport 130 km
- Military Unit 153 km
- Moroccan borderwall 194 km
- Airstrip 387 km
- borderline 0.9 km
- Bir Lehlou 39 km
- Uad el Unguel 71 km
- Uad El Hamra 88 km
- point suport 97 km
- 9 120 km
- Uad Laiaat 129 km
- . 130 km
- Uad Tasleiamt 132 km
- Daiet El Aam 135 km
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