The Egyptian and Libyan border over which Operation Brevity was conducted.
Operation Brevity was a limited offensive conducted in mid-May 1941, during the
Western Desert Campaign of the
Second World War. Conceived by the commander-in-chief of the British
Middle East Command, General
Archibald Wavell, Brevity was intended to be a rapid blow against weak
Axis front-line forces in the
Sollum–
Capuzzo–
Bardia area of the border between Egypt and Libya. Although the operation got off to a promising start, throwing the Axis high command into confusion, most of its early gains were lost to local counter-attacks, and with German reinforcements being rushed to the front the operation was called off after one day.
Egypt had been
invaded by Libyan-based
Italian forces in September 1940, but by February of the following year a
British counter-offensive had advanced well into Libya, destroying the
Italian Tenth Army in the process. British attention then shifted to Greece, which was under the threat of Axis invasion. While Allied divisions were being diverted from North Africa, the Italians reinforced their positions and were supported by the arrival of the German Afrika Korps under GeneralleutnantErwin Rommel. Rapidly taking the offensive against his distracted and over-stretched opponent, by April 1941 Rommel had driven the British and Commonwealth forces in
Cyrenaica back across the Egyptian border. Although the battlefront now lay in the border area, the port city of
Tobruk—100 mi (160 km) inside Libya—had resisted the Axis advance, and its substantial Australian and British garrison constituted a significant threat to Rommel's lengthy supply chain. He therefore committed his main strength to besieging the city, leaving the front line only thinly held. (Full article...)
Image 2A protest against the anti-Gaddafi supporters in Tripoli (from Libya)
Image 3The Arch of
Septimius Severus at Leptis Magna. The patronage of Roman emperor Septimus Severus allowed the city to become one of the most prominent in Roman Africa. (from History of Libya)
Image 4Al Manar Royal Palace in central Benghazi – the location of the
University of Libya's first campus, founded by royal decree in 1955 (from Libya)
Image 22Flag of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (lasting from 1977 to 2011), the national anthem of which was
"الله أكبر" (English: Allahu Akbar=god (is) great) (from History of Libya)
Image 25Australian infantry at
Tobruk during World War II. Beginning on 10 April 1941, the
Siege of Tobruk lasted for 240 days. (from History of Libya)
Image 26Bazeen, a communal bread dish (from Libya)
Image 29Omar Mukhtar was the leader of Libyan resistance in Cyrenaica against the Italian colonization. (from History of Libya)
Image 30Territorial growth of Italian Libya: Territory ceded by Ottoman Empire 1912 (dark-green) but effectively Italy controlled only five ports (black), territories ceded by France and Britain 1919 and 1926 (light-green), territories ceded by France and Britain 1934/35 (red) (from History of Libya)
Image 34The temple of
Zeus in the ancient Greek city of
Cyrene. Libya has a number of World Heritage Sites from the ancient Greek era. (from History of Libya)
Image 35Prehistoric Libyan rock paintings in Tadrart Acacus reveal a Sahara once lush in vegetation and wildlife. (from History of Libya)
Image 36King
Idris I of the
Senussi order became the first head of state of Libya in 1951. (from Libya)
Image 37Omar Mukhtar was a prominent leader of Libyan resistance in Cyrenaica against Italian colonization. (from Libya)
Image 38King Idris I announced Libya's independence on 24 December 1951, and was King until the 1969 coup that overthrew his government. (from History of Libya)
Image 39Districts of Libya since 2007 (from Libya)
This is a
Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
Libyan and Tanzanian troop movements during and after the battle
The Battle of Lukaya (
Kiswahili: Mapigano ya Lukaya) was a battle of the
Uganda–Tanzania War. It was fought on 10 and 11 March 1979 around
Lukaya,
Uganda, between Tanzanian forces (supported by Ugandan rebels) and Ugandan government forces (supported by Libyan and Palestinian troops). After briefly occupying the town, Tanzanian troops and Ugandan rebels retreated under artillery fire. The Tanzanians subsequently launched a
counterattack, retaking Lukaya and killing hundreds of Libyans and Ugandans.
President
Idi Amin of Uganda attempted to invade neighbouring Tanzania to the south in 1978. The attack was repulsed, and Tanzania launched a counterattack into Ugandan territory. In February 1979, the
Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF)
seizedMasaka. The TPDF's 201st Brigade was then instructed to secure Lukaya and its
causeway to the north, which served as the only direct route through a large swamp to
Kampala, the Ugandan capital. Meanwhile, Amin ordered his forces to recapture Masaka, and a force was assembled for the purpose consisting of Ugandan troops, allied Libyan soldiers, and a handful of
Palestine Liberation Organisation guerrillas, led by Lieutenant Colonel
Godwin Sule. (Full article...)
... that to repel migrants, the European Union has paid hundreds of millions of euros to Libyan partners known to be involved in human trafficking, slavery, and torture?