Editing Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (section)

==History==
{{Main|Military history of Morocco}}
The oldest "Moroccan" military forces are those of the Mauri Berber Kingdoms from around 225 BCE.<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Livy]] ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab Urbe Condita Libri]]'' 29.30</ref> The Moroccan army has existed continuously since 1088 during the rising of [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravid Empire]] in the 11th-century. During the protectorates period (1912–1955),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/morocco/|title=Africa :: Morocco — The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov|date=14 November 2022 }}</ref> large numbers of Moroccans were recruited for service in the [[Spahi]] and [[Tirailleur]] regiments of the French [[Army of Africa (France)|Army of Africa]] ([[French language|French]]: ''Armée d'Afrique''). Many served during [[World War I]]. During World War II more than 300,000 Moroccan troops (including [[goumier]] auxiliaries) served with the [[Free French forces]] in North Africa, Italy, France and Austria. The two world conflicts saw Moroccan units earning the nickname of "Todesschwalben" (death swallows) by German soldiers as they showed particular toughness on the battlefield. After the end of [[World War II]], Moroccan troops formed part of the [[French Far East Expeditionary Corps]] engaged in the [[First Indochina War]] from 1946 to 1954.

The [[Spanish Army]] also made extensive use of Moroccan troops recruited in the [[Spanish Morocco|Spanish Protectorate]], during both the [[Rif War (1920)|Rif War]] of 1921–26 and the [[Spanish Civil War]] of 1936–39. Moroccan ''[[Regulares]]'', together with the [[Spanish Legion]], made up Spain's elite [[Spanish Army of Africa]]. A para-military [[gendarmerie]], known as the "Mehal-la Jalifianas" and modelled on the French goumieres, was employed within the Spanish Zone.

The Royal Armed Forces were created on 14 May 1956, after the French Protectorate was dissolved in 1955.<ref name="art7">{{cite web|title=57e anniversaire de la création des FAR|url=http://www.lematin.ma/express/57e-anniversaire-de-la-creation-des-FAR-_La-place-d-armes-de-Rabat-Sale-organise-un-diner-/182287.html|publication-date=2014-05-16|access-date=2014-10-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006081416/http://www.lematin.ma/express/57e-anniversaire-de-la-creation-des-FAR-_La-place-d-armes-de-Rabat-Sale-organise-un-diner-/182287.html|archive-date=2014-10-06}}</ref> 14,000 Moroccan personnel from the French Army and 10,000 from the Spanish Armed Forces transferred into the newly formed armed forces, this number was augmented by approximately 5,000 former guerrillas from the "Army of Liberation", About 2,000 French officers and NCOs remained in Morocco on short term contracts until the training programs at the military academies of St-Cyr, Toledo and [[Meknes Royal Military Academy|Dar al Bayda]] produced sufficient numbers of Moroccan commissioned officers. Four years later, the [[Royal Moroccan Navy]] was established in 1960.

The Moroccan military's first engagement as an independent country in the 20th century was the [[Ifni War]], followed by the [[Rif revolt]], and then [[Sand War|the border war of 1963 with Algeria]],<ref name=time>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071112110043/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,893782,00.html Ifni & After], ''[[Time Magazine]]'', December 16, 1957</ref><ref name="onwar.com">[http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/alpha/algmor1963.htm ''Algerian-Moroccan War 1963''] – onwar.com</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=C. Kohn |first=George |title=Dictionary of Wars |pages=10}}</ref> In the early 1960s, Moroccan troops were sent to the Congo as part of the first multifunctional UN peacekeeping operation [[ONUC]], The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces fought on the Golan front during the [[Yom Kippur War]] of 1973 (mostly in the battle for [[Quneitra]]) and intervened decisively in the 1977 conflict known as [[Shaba I]] to save Zaire's regime.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/5829/CIA-RDP79T00975A030700010040-6.pdf|title=National Intelligence Daily (Cable) : 5 June 1978}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/5829/CIA-RDP79T00975A030900010092-7.pdf|title=National Intelligence Daily (Cable), 27 novembre 1978}}</ref> After Shaba II, Morocco was part of the Inter-African Force deployed on the Zaire border, contributing about 1,500 troops.<ref>{{cite book |title=Peacekeeping In Africa: Capabilities And Culpabilities  |last=Berman, Eric G. |author2=Sams, Katie E. |year=2000 |publisher=[[United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research]] |location=Geneva |isbn=92-9045-133-5 |pages=219–220}}</ref> The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces also took a symbolic part in the [[Gulf War]] among other Arab armies.

Between 1975 and 1991, the Moroccan Armed Forces fought a [[Western Sahara War|16-year war]] against the [[POLISARIO]], an [[Algeria]]n backed rebel national [[liberation movement]] seeking the independence of [[Western Sahara]] from Morocco.<ref name="The Sahara War 1975-1991">[http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/papa/polisario1975.htm ''The Sahara War 1975–1991''] – onwar.com</ref> From the mid-1980s on, Morocco largely managed to keep POLISARIO troops at bay by building a huge [[Moroccan Wall|sand wall]], staffed by an army roughly the same size as the entire Sahrawi population, enclosing the [[Southern Provinces]] within it. The enclosure contained most of the economically useful parts of Western Sahara, including [[Bou Craa]], [[El-Aaiun]], and [[Smara]]. The Moroccan army destroyed all the posts created by the Polisario and won decisively the majority of battles, but artillery strikes and sniping attacks by the guerrillas continued, and Morocco was economically and politically strained by the war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newint.org/features/1997/12/05/facts|title=Web Page Of Facts About The Western Sahara Including Landuse, Health, Population, Economy And Human Rights.|date=December 5, 1997|website=New Internationalist}}</ref>

In the 1990s, Moroccan troops went to Angola with the three UN Angola Verifications Missions, [[United Nations Angola Verification Mission I|UNAVEM I]], [[United Nations Angola Verification Mission II|UNAVEM II]], and [[United Nations Angola Verification Mission III|UNAVEM III]]. They were also in Somalia, with [[United Nations Operation in Somalia I|UNOSOM I]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/co_mission/unosom1facts.html|title=United Nations Operation in Somalia I: facts and figures}}</ref> the U.S.-led [[Unified Task Force]] (UNITAF), known by its U.S. codename of 'Restore Hope' and the follow-on [[United Nations Operation in Somalia II|UNOSOM II]], They saw fighting during the [[Battle of Mogadishu (1993)|Battle of Mogadishu]] to rescue a U.S. anti-militia assault force. Other peace support involvement during the 1990s included [[United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia]] (UNTAC) in Cambodia, and the missions in the former Yugoslavia: [[IFOR]], [[SFOR]], and [[Kosovo Force|KFOR]].

On 14 July 1999, the Moroccan Armed Forces took part in the Bastille Day parade on the [[Avenue des Champs-Élysées|Champs-Élysées]], which was exceptional for a non-French armed forces, at the invitation of then French President [[Jacques Chirac]].<ref>[http://www.laformation.ma/guide-metiers/secteurs-a-la-une/formations-des-far.html Le 14 juillet 1999, les Forces armées royales ont défilé sur les Champs-Élysées].</ref>