TINDOUF

town and Saharan oasis in westernmost Algeria. Rich deposits of iron ore are at Gara Djebilet, 93 miles (150 km) southeast. The town has a large population of Regeibat nomads and is strategically important owing to its location near the borders of Morocco, Mauritania, and Western Sahara. Tindouf became the headquarters of the Polisario Front guerrilla organization after the annexation of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) by Moroccan troops in 1976. These mostly Regeibat nomads from Western Sahara received financial support from Libya and Algeria in their struggle for an independent Western Sahara. Fighting with the Moroccans continued through the 1980s, and thousands of refugees from the Western Sahara resided in camps south of Tindouf. Pop. (1987 prelim.) mun., 13,645.