Battle of Oued Aslaf
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| Battle of Oued Aslaf | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Map depicting Emir Abdelkader’s camps and the areas loyal to him (1845-1847)[1] | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Emirate of Mascara |
 Morocco | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Emir Abdelkader |
Moulay Hashem El Hamra † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
2,000 cavalry 1,200 regulars 400 infantry | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The battle of Oued Aslaf occurred in the year 1847 following the Treaty of Tangiers. It was a battle between the Alaouite Dynasty of Morocco which was then ruled by Moulay Abd al-Rahman against the Emirate of Mascara.
Emir Abdelkader was outlawed in Morocco following the Treaty of Tangiers and wanted in Algeria.[4][5] The French called upon Moulay Abd al-Rahman and demanded the immediate expulsion of Emir Abdelkader.[2] Moulay Abd al-Rahman sent a letter to Emir Abdelkader instructing him to leave Morocco but Abdelkader refused to sign a humiliating treaty with the French.[2]
Moroccan Offensives
Moulay Abd al-Rahman secretly ordered his men to ravage and attack the Deira which was attacked and robbed for six months. Abdelkader wrote to the Moroccan King about these occurrences but received no response, six months later he warned the Moroccan King that he would rightfully react to these attacks in self defense.[2]
Abdelkader ordered 1,200 men and 800 cavalry to patrol the country and the Moroccan attackers were chased to their very own tents before they were brought to the Deira and imprisoned.[2] Following this Moroccan failure an assassin was sent to kill Emir Abdelkader. While the Emir was reading he raised his head and witnessed a large powerful assassin armed with a dagger, however the assassin quickly threw the dagger to the ground and said: “I was going to strike you, but the sight of you disarmed me. I thought I saw the halo of the Prophet on your head.”[2]
