Every war the Mauritania Islamic Air Force has fought
In the Western Sahara War each party’s position is given as it states it: Morocco regards the territory as Moroccan and offers autonomy under its sovereignty, the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic seek self-determination, and the United Nations calls it Western Sahara, a non-self-governing territory; Mauritania, which gave up its claim in 1979, describes itself today as an observer. The Defender losses rest on one Helion series relayed by Wikipedia, and the count differs between two and three. Wikipedia lists the 1989–1991 crisis with Senegal among the air force’s engagements, but no air operations are documented. Where a consolidated sortie or loss figure exists in the official record it is given here; where accounts disagree, the range is shown and the disagreement named. Blank cells are blank because no figure could be verified, not because the fighting was small.
From the Western Sahara War of 1975–1979 to the campaign against al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
| Conflict | Years | Against | Main aircraft | Sorties | Aircraft lost | |
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| The Western Sahara WarMauritania’s war with the Polisario FrontForce Aérienne Islamique de Mauritanie | 1975–1979 | Polisario Front (backed by Algeria) | BN-2A-21 Defender, Reims-Cessna FTB337G, C-47and 2 more | |||
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Reconnaissance, armed patrol, harassment of Polisario columns, casualty evacuation and transport with Defenders, FTB337s and transports. Under the Madrid Accords of 14 November 1975 Spain handed the administration of Western Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania; Mauritania took the southern third, Tiris al-Gharbiyya. The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria, fought both. Each side’s position differs and still does: Morocco regards the territory as Moroccan and offers autonomy under its sovereignty; the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic seek self-determination for the Sahrawi people, which the International Court of Justice recognised in 1975; the UN calls the territory Western Sahara, a non-self-governing territory, and names Morocco and the Polisario Front as the parties. Mauritania today describes itself as an observer, not a party. Mauritania entered the war with an army of about 3,000 and an air arm of fewer than 150 people. The Polisario struck the iron mines at Zouérat, Mauritania’s main source of income, and twice reached Nouakchott: in June 1976, when Wikipedia credits air force aircraft with detecting a column of about 100 vehicles and Defenders harassed it on its way back towards Algeria, and El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed was killed on 9 June; and again in July 1977. The Defenders, armed Islanders, paid for flying low over open desert against shoulder-fired Strela-2s. In February 1978 they evacuated dozens of wounded from the besieged garrison at Tichla. Morocco sent 600 troops to Zouérat in June 1977, and from December 1977 to July 1978 French Jaguars flying from Dakar attacked Polisario columns in Opération Lamantin, with napalm according to Wikipedia; France intervened after French technicians were captured at Zouérat. The war doubled as a budget crisis: Saudi Arabia paid sums the Library of Congress puts at twice Mauritania’s annual budget, and the country was near bankruptcy by late 1977. The army overthrew President Ould Daddah on 10 July 1978 and Mauritania left the war in August 1979. Outcome After the coup of 10 July 1978 the junta accepted a Polisario ceasefire; on 5 August 1979 Mauritania signed an agreement in Algiers giving up its claim. Morocco then took over administration of the area Mauritania had held. Loss dates and figures come from one Helion series relayed by Wikipedia and disagree with the Defender article (two or three lost). The date the French technicians were taken differs: May 1977 (two killed, six captured) per the Library of Congress; Wikipedia’s Lamantin article puts the hostage-taking in December 1977. Polisario, Moroccan and Mauritanian official casualty figures were not found.
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| Mauritania–Senegal Border Warthe 1989 crisisForce Aérienne Islamique de Mauritanie | 1989–1991 | Senegal | ||||
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Listed among the air force’s engagements by Wikipedia; no air operations are documented in the sources checked. The crisis began on 9 April 1989 with a clash between farmers and herders over grazing on the Senegal River border. Wikipedia records mob killings on both sides in April 1989 (61 Mauritanians killed in Dakar, at least 200 Senegalese killed in Mauritania on 25 April), a mass repatriation of about 250,000 people assisted by France, Spain, Algeria and Morocco, and artillery exchanges from 24 October 1989 until summer 1991. The Mauritanian air force appears in Wikipedia’s list of engagements, but no source checked describes Mauritanian aircraft in combat or in the repatriation flights, so its role is left open here rather than invented. Outcome A peace agreement was reached in July 1991; diplomatic relations, broken on 21 August 1989, were restored and the border reopened to civilians on 2 May 1992. The air force’s part is UNVERIFIED; casualty figures are Wikipedia’s and are given for context only. |
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| Campaign against al-Qaeda in the Islamic MaghrebAQIM, Wagadou ForestForce Aérienne Islamique de Mauritanie | 2005–2012 | al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (formerly GSPC) | EMB 312F Tucano, EMB 314 Super Tucano, Cessna 208and 1 more | |||
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Air surveillance to find vehicles and guide the special intervention groups on the ground; strikes on suspected AQIM positions in Mali in 2011. The attack on the Lemgheity barracks on 4 June 2005, in which militants killed 17 soldiers, began a run of AQIM attacks on Mauritanian troops and foreigners, including 12 soldiers killed at Tourine in September 2008. After the coup of 2005 and the 2008 coup that brought General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to power, the state rebuilt its forces around mobile special intervention groups. In July 2010 French and Mauritanian forces raided an AQIM camp in Mali, without the Malian government’s consent according to Wikipedia. In 2011 France supplied four overhauled EMB 312F Tucanos with gun-pod hard points and pilot training; they were based at Atar. The Africa Center for Strategic Studies writes that in 2011 Mauritanian aircraft "demonstrated the capability to strike suspected AQIM positions in the Wagadou Forest across the border in Mali", during a joint Malian and Mauritanian offensive, and that U.S.-donated Cessna surveillance aircraft, Super Tucanos and a few Chinese helicopters gave the air force enough capacity to detect suspicious vehicles and guide the ground teams. Wikipedia’s Tucano article adds that Mauritanian aircraft crossed into Malian airspace against terrorist targets in March 2012. Outcome The Africa Center for Strategic Studies wrote in 2020 that Mauritania had been unscathed by terrorism since 2011. Casualty claims from the 2010 and 2011 operations in Mali were not found in the sources checked and are left out; the air role rests on the Africa Center analysis and Wikipedia.
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Nothing matches that search.
Every figure, checked
- Africa Center for Strategic Studies: Keeping Terrorism at Bay in Mauritania (Anouar Boukhars, 16 June 2020)US-donated Cessnas, Super Tucanos, Chinese helicopters; 2011 strikes in the Wagadou Forest; GSI at Lemreiya since 2015; budget quadrupled 2008–2018 to $160 million; no attacks since 2011.
- defenceWeb: Keeping terrorism at bay in Mauritania (18 June 2020, republished from the Africa Center)Republication of the Africa Center analysis.
- Library of Congress Country Study, Mauritania (1988): Background to Mauritanian PolicyGreater Morocco and Greater Mauritania claims; Madrid agreements, southern third to Mauritania.
- Library of Congress Country Study, Mauritania (1988): Fighting the Desert WarArmy 3,000 (1976), 12,000 (1977), 15,000–17,000 (1978); Zouérat May 1977; Moroccan troops; French aircraft from December 1977; coup 10 July 1978.
- Library of Congress Country Study, Mauritania (1988): Military Withdrawal from the Western SaharaCMRN junta accepts Polisario ceasefire; disengagement.
- MINURSO: BackgroundUN terminology; Madrid Accords; Mauritania withdrew its claims in 1979 by agreement with the Frente POLISARIO; Morocco then administered the vacated parts.
- Security Council Report: Western Sahara, April 2026 Monthly ForecastResolution 2797 of 31 October 2025; positions of Morocco and the Polisario Front; Algeria and Mauritania describe themselves as observers.
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Back to the Mauritania Islamic Air Force.