1971 Moroccan coup attempt

1971 Moroccan coup d'état attempt

From top, left to right: troops outside the Radio-Maroc headquarters; a rebel gets detained; the rebel is tossed onto a truck

Date10 July 1971
Location
Result

Coup d'état failed

Belligerents

Rebel cadets from Ahermoumou military school

Supported by:
Libya (alleged)[1][2]

Kingdom of Morocco

Commanders and leaders
  • Morocco Gen. Mohamed Medbouh 
  • Morocco Lt.-Col. M'hamed Ababou 
  • Morocco Col. Mohamed Ababou
  • Morocco Gen. Hamou Amahzoune Executed
  • Morocco Gen. Khyari Bougrine Executed
  • Morocco Gen. Abderrahman Habibi Executed
  • Morocco Gen. Mustapha Amharech Executed
  • Morocco Col. Larbi Chelouati Executed
  • Morocco Col. Mohamed Fenniri Executed
  • Morocco Lt.-Col. Mohamed Bouberri Executed
  • Morocco Col. Ahmed Ammi Executed
  • Morocco Col. Lakbir Belabsir Executed
  • Morocco Maj. Brahim Manousi Executed
Casualties and losses
  • 158 killed
  • 1,081 captured
  • 22 killed (20 soldiers, 2 policemen)
  • 73 injured (66 soldiers, 4 gendarmes, 2 policemen, and 1 royal guard)
  • 98 civilians killed
  • ≈ 59 civilians injured

The 1971 Moroccan coup d'état attempt, popularly known as the Skhirat coup d'état (Arabic: محاولة انقلاب الصخيرات, French: Coup d'état de Skhirat), was a failed effort by rebel military leaders to overthrow King Hassan II of Morocco on 10 July 1971, during his forty-second birthday party. The first of two attempted coups during Hassan's rule, it was organized by a rebel faction of the Royal Armed Forces led by Lieutenant-Colonel M'hamed Ababou and General Mohamed Medbouh.

The faction attacked the king's summer palace at Skhirat, and the Radio-Maroc headquarters and offices of the Ministry of Interior in Rabat. Hassan, his immediate family, and his aides escaped and hid in a bathroom near the palace swimming pool, and the rebels were killed or captured by members of the Royal Guard.

The coup attempt led to Hassan reforming the Royal Armed Forces, including installing Mohamed Oufkir as Minister of Defense. Oufkir was subsequently involved in the second coup attempt against the king in 1972.

  1. ^ a b Doublet, Pierre (2 March 2006). "Le complot de Skhirat" (in French). L'Express. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  2. ^ Lamlili, Nadia (11 August 2015). "Palais de Skhirat au Maroc : Hassan II, un roi miraculé" (in French). Jeune Afrique. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.