How did Polisario Front guerrillas contribute to the fall of President Moktar Ould Daddah?

President Moktar Ould Daddah’s downfall was primarily driven by the significant political and economic strain caused by Mauritania’s involvement in the Western Sahara conflict.

In 1976, Mauritania and Morocco partitioned the territory of Western Sahara following the withdrawal of Spain. This decision led to a costly and difficult military campaign against the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi independence movement. The persistent challenges of suppressing the Polisario Front guerrillas within Mauritania’s portion of the territory created deep dissatisfaction with Ould Daddah’s leadership.12

This mounting pressure and the high costs associated with the annexation attempt ultimately resulted in his ouster in a military coup d’état in July 1978, led by Lieutenant Colonel Mustapha Ould Salek. Following his removal, the new military government eventually sought to disentangle the country from the conflict, signing a peace treaty with the Polisario Front in 1979 and abandoning Mauritania's territorial claims.123