The Mauritanian Hodh and Coast The clashes that the "Qawm" (11) detachment engaged in against acts of invasion, and the notable services it rendered, particularly against the gangs of Muhammad bin Sidi al-Akhhal, in December 1912 and January 1913 (12). However, Sidi's death in March 1913 left the tribal leadership in a state of mourning; there were three candidates: Hanteh, his brother, Dushiq, his son, and Sidi al-Mukhtar, his cousin. But Hanteh was the only one capable of imposing himself on the tribe and its neighbors, and facing invasions, and he was elected without difficulty. After the death of Hammud bin Ibrahim, the leader of Lahmanat, the capable and energetic Hanteh was the only local leader who effectively faced the northern invaders. His conduct in 1915 in pursuing some invaders was satisfactory in all respects, and his intervention was entirely successful, during which he was wounded. On November 8, 1917, alongside Lieutenant Mercier, commander of the Eastern Camel Corps detachment, he demonstrated the most remarkable courage in the battle of Thmeim, where 26 riflemen (12 sharpshooters and 14 of Aloush's men under his command) managed to defeat eighty men of the Riqqat after six hours of fighting. They recovered all their loot, their servants, and their camels, and captured twenty-three camels and five rifles of the 1874 model. They counted nineteen dead among them. Hanteh was wounded by the first bullet, and his rifle was shattered in his hands by a second bullet. Hanteh was the first among all the Beidan leaders in West Africa to receive the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor. His nephew, Dushiq bin Sidi, met an unfortunate end. Displeased by the people's preference for Hanteh by electing him tribal leader, he seized the first opportunity, which was the rebellion of the people of Sidi (Mashṭūf), and declared revolt. He gathered fifteen of his friends around him to assassinate Hanteh in his tent, taking advantage of the darkness of the night. They wounded him severely and then joined the rebels, but they perished several weeks later in various battles with the Qawm of Tishṭīt, with the exception of two of them: Anifa bin Yunis, who took refuge with the loyal Mashṭūf, and was apprehended in Sukulu, and sentenced by the district court of the province to five years in prison. (11) Qawm means the armed forces composed of citizens. (12) He is Muhammad bin Sidi al-Akhhal bin Hajjur, a companion of the leader Muhammad al-Mukhtar bin al-Hamid Ahmad, leaders of the resistance in Tagant. He played a famous role. Muhammad, may God have mercy on him, died as an emigrant in southern Morocco. See appendices of the book "Kenta al-Sharqiyyin," previous reference.