Ifni–Sahara War

E233641

armed conflict colonial war war

The Ifni–Sahara War was a brief late-1950s conflict in which Spain fought Moroccan-backed insurgents over its colonial possessions of Ifni and parts of the Spanish Sahara in Northwest Africa.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Guerra de Ifni	2
Ifni–Sahara War canonical	1
Western Sahara conflict (1950s)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2099477 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Ifni–Sahara War
Context triple: [Ifni War, alsoKnownAs, Ifni–Sahara War]

A. Chadian–Libyan conflict
The Chadian–Libyan conflict was a series of armed confrontations from the 1970s to the late 1980s in which Libya, under Muammar Gaddafi, intervened militarily in Chad over territorial disputes and regional influence, culminating in Libya’s defeat and withdrawal.
B. Libyan–Egyptian War
The Libyan–Egyptian War was a brief 1977 border conflict between Egypt and Libya marked by air strikes, ground clashes, and rapid de-escalation under Arab and international pressure.
C. Ogaden conflict
The Ogaden conflict is a long-running insurgency and counterinsurgency in Ethiopia’s Somali Region, primarily involving ethnic Somali separatists seeking self-determination and the Ethiopian state.
D. Eritrean–Ethiopian War
The Eritrean–Ethiopian War was a brutal border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000 that caused tens of thousands of casualties and reshaped politics in the Horn of Africa.
E. Mahdist War
The Mahdist War was a late 19th-century Islamic rebellion and conflict in Sudan against Egyptian and British rule, led by Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi and his successors.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Ifni–Sahara War
Target entity description: The Ifni–Sahara War was a brief late-1950s conflict in which Spain fought Moroccan-backed insurgents over its colonial possessions of Ifni and parts of the Spanish Sahara in Northwest Africa.

A. Chadian–Libyan conflict
The Chadian–Libyan conflict was a series of armed confrontations from the 1970s to the late 1980s in which Libya, under Muammar Gaddafi, intervened militarily in Chad over territorial disputes and regional influence, culminating in Libya’s defeat and withdrawal.
B. Libyan–Egyptian War
The Libyan–Egyptian War was a brief 1977 border conflict between Egypt and Libya marked by air strikes, ground clashes, and rapid de-escalation under Arab and international pressure.
C. Ogaden conflict
The Ogaden conflict is a long-running insurgency and counterinsurgency in Ethiopia’s Somali Region, primarily involving ethnic Somali separatists seeking self-determination and the Ethiopian state.
D. Eritrean–Ethiopian War
The Eritrean–Ethiopian War was a brutal border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000 that caused tens of thousands of casualties and reshaped politics in the Horn of Africa.
E. Mahdist War
The Mahdist War was a late 19th-century Islamic rebellion and conflict in Sudan against Egyptian and British rule, led by Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi and his successors.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	armed conflict ⓘ colonial war ⓘ war ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Forgotten War ⓘ Ifni–Sahara War ⓘ surface form: Guerra de Ifni
belligerent	Army of Liberation ⓘ Francoist Spain ⓘ Moroccan-backed insurgents ⓘ Spain ⓘ
casusBelli	Moroccan irredentist claims over Spanish-controlled territories ⓘ
colonialPower	Spain ⓘ
colonialTerritoryInvolved	Ifni territory ⓘ Spanish Sahara ⓘ Spanish North Africa ⓘ surface form: Spanish West Africa
combatantType	irregular guerrilla forces ⓘ regular Spanish forces ⓘ
conflictIn	Cold War era ⓘ
countryInvolved	France ⓘ Morocco ⓘ Spain ⓘ
duration	several months ⓘ
endDate	1958-06 ⓘ
followedBy	gradual Spanish withdrawal from Ifni ⓘ
geopoliticalContext	post–World War II decolonization ⓘ
hasCause	territorial dispute between Spain and newly independent Morocco ⓘ
insurgentSupporter	Morocco ⓘ
mainTheater	enclave of Ifni on the Atlantic coast ⓘ southern regions of Spanish Sahara ⓘ
notableFeature	limited international attention ⓘ use of local indigenous troops by Spain ⓘ
opponentGoal	end Spanish colonial rule in Ifni and Spanish Sahara ⓘ
partOf	decolonization of Africa ⓘ
place	Ifni ⓘ Northwest Africa ⓘ Spanish Sahara ⓘ
precededBy	end of French and Spanish protectorates in Morocco ⓘ
relatedTo	Ifni ⓘ Western Sahara conflict ⓘ surface form: Moroccan War of Independence Spanish Sahara ⓘ Western Sahara conflict ⓘ
result	Spanish military victory ⓘ maintenance of Spanish control over Ifni and key parts of Spanish Sahara ⓘ
scale	limited regional conflict ⓘ
startDate	1957-11 ⓘ
supportedBy	France ⓘ
timePeriod	late 1950s ⓘ
treatyOrAgreement	agreements leading to later retrocession of Ifni to Morocco ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ifni War → alsoKnownAs → Ifni–Sahara War ⓘ

Army of Liberation → conflict → Ifni–Sahara War ⓘ

this entity surface form: Western Sahara conflict (1950s)

Ifni–Sahara War → alsoKnownAs → Ifni–Sahara War ⓘ

this entity surface form: Guerra de Ifni

Forgotten War → alsoKnownAs → Ifni–Sahara War ⓘ