How did guerrilla attacks in June and July 1921 begin the Rif War?

The Rif War began in June and July 1921, when tensions between colonial Spanish forces and the Rif peoples escalated into a series of guerrilla attacks led by Berber leader Abd el-Krim against Spanish fortifications in northern Morocco.12

These attacks culminated on July 22, 1921, when Gen. Manuel Fernández Silvestre made the ill-advised decision to abandon the frontline post of Annoual (Anwal). This hasty evacuation caused panic among the poorly trained and equipped Spanish conscript army, leading to a chaotic retreat. Abd el-Krim’s forces capitalized on this disorder, routing the Spanish troops and pushing them back to Melilla.32

Within weeks, Spain lost all the territory it had occupied in the region since 1909, suffering between 8,000 and 10,000 casualties. This defeat, which became a major political scandal in Spain, effectively marked the outbreak of the Rif War.132