The Berbers of the Rif are still dying of cancer due to the effects of chemical weapons used by the Franco-Spanish army during the war in 1924. France, wanting to save its Arab kingdom, did not take velvet gloves with the Berbers.
Small reminder:
During the Rif War (1921-1927), Spain, supported by France, which continued its war, with the blessing of the Arabs, against the Amazigh people, used chemical weapons to subdue the Republic of Rif founded by Abdelkrim in 1923.
The Spanish army used phosgene, di-phosgene, Abdelkrim and especially mustard gas (yperite).
This use of chemical weapons was a reaction to the crushing of the Spanish army in Dhar Ubarran in July 1921 by Riffian fighters. Spain, humiliated and defeated, was looking for a solution to control the Rif. Spain had asked for support from the Germans. The latter then recommended bombarding the most populated villages, rivers and towns with mustard gas. Berlin had supplied Spain with tons of ready-to-use chemical bombs. It also helped them set up La Marañosa, its own toxic gas production facility in Toledo.
The Spanish army used 530 French-, German- and Danish-built aircraft, piloted by European and American mercenaries, to dump hundreds of thousands of tons of poison gas over the Rif country. Hundreds of thousands of Rif lost their lives as a result of these bombings.
The use of poisonous gases had forced Abdelkrim to surrender on May 27, 1926 to the French who had also actively participated in the war against the Rif under the leadership of Marshal Pétain who at the time had qualified the Rif as “hordes of barbarians”.
Image: European mercenaries show off their trophies .
Chemical warfare of a European coalition against a Berber people, the Rifain.
