This Tuesday, February 28, 2023, the Moroccan people and the family of the resistance and former members of the liberation army commemorate, in a climate of pride and joy, the 65th Anniversary of the battle of Dcheira, coinciding with the 47th Anniversary of the departure of the last foreign soldier from the Southern Provinces.
It is, in fact, on January 13, 1958, in this locality, 25 km East of Laayoune, that the members of the resistance and the liberation army led the battle of Dcheira against the Spanish army, heavily equipped.
This major event in the contemporary history of Morocco constitutes a historical stage with deep meanings, illustrating all the greatness and glories of the national struggle for the completion of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom and national unity, crowned by the departure of the last Spanish soldier, on February 28, 1976, from the Southern Provinces.
The commemoration of this battle is thus an opportunity for the Moroccan people to pay a vibrant tribute to the bravery, sacrifices and heroism that the Moroccan fighters and martyrs have shown against the colonizer.
It is as well an opportunity to highlight the distinguished participation of the sons of the Southern Provinces in the process of national struggle for freedom, independence, the completion of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom, as well as the unwavering attachment of the inhabitants of the Moroccan Sahara to the Glorious Alaouite Throne.
It also recalls some phases of the history of the national resistance, as well as the values of unity and communion between Moroccans in the different regions of the Kingdom, the sacrifices made by the fighters and their actions to thwart the maneuvers aimed at undermining the unity of the country.
This resounding victory of the resistance forces in Dcheira was only the beginning of a series of victories against the colonial forces in the Moroccan Sahara, and a step in the long process of struggle led by the late Sovereign HM King Mohammed V for the liberation of Morocco, and continued by the late HM King Hassan II for the recovery of the Southern Provinces of the Kingdom.
At the same time, Morocco led a political struggle to complete its national unity and deployed an intense diplomatic action at the international level. Indeed, the late HM Mohammed V had not ceased to claim the right of the Kingdom to liberate its Sahara, notably in his famous speech delivered on February 25, 1958, in M’Hamid Al Ghizlane, where the late Sovereign had been welcomed by delegations and representatives of Sahrawi tribes who flocked from everywhere to renew their allegiance to the King and reaffirm their commitment to defend the territorial integrity of the Kingdom.
These achievements led to the recovery of Tarfaya in 1958, Sidi Ifni in 1969, and the recovery of the Southern Provinces through the Glorious Green March, crowned by the departure of the last Spanish soldier, on 28 February 1976.
This commemoration constitute an opportunity to recall the solidity, depth and unwavering continuity of the historical ties uniting the Southern Provinces to Morocco and the inalienable attachment of the Sahrawi tribes to the Sovereigns and the Glorious Alaouite Throne, and their constant mobilization, alongside their compatriots in other regions of the Kingdom.
Today, under the enlightened leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, Morocco continues to mobilize to defend its territorial integrity and strengthen the great march of global and sustainable development in all its economic, social, cultural, human and environmental dimensions.