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
Date	10 July 1971
Location	Rabat and Skhirat, Morocco
Result	Coup d'état failed Led to the Years of Lead;
Belligerents
Rebel cadets from Ahermoumou military school Royal Moroccan Armed Forces (elements); Supported by:; Libya (alleged)	Kingdom of Morocco Royal Moroccan Armed Forces; Moroccan Royal Guard; Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie;
Commanders and leaders
Gen. Mohamed Medbouh †; Lt.-Col. M'hamed Ababou †; Col. Mohamed Ababou; Gen. Hamou Amahzoune ; Gen. Khyari Bougrine ; Gen. Abderrahman Habibi ; Gen. Mustapha Amharech ; Col. Larbi Chelouati ; Col. Mohamed Fenniri ; Lt.-Col. Mohamed Bouberri ; Col. Ahmed Ammi ; Col. Lakbir Belabsir ; Maj. Brahim Manousi ;	Hassan II; Maj.-Gen. Mohamed Bachir El Bouhali †; Gen. Mohamed Oufkir; Col. Ahmed Dlimi; Ahmed Laraki; Gen. Driss Ben Omar El Alami; Gen. Mohamed Gharbaoui †; Gen. Driss N'Michi †; Col. Bouazza Boulhimez †; Col. Hassan Hammou;
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.

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