Battle of Maaten al-Sarra

Battle of Maaten al-Sarra
Part of the Toyota War
Date5 September 1987
Location21°41′20″N 21°49′42″E / 21.6888548°N 21.828289°E / 21.6888548; 21.828289
Result Decisive Chadian victory
Belligerents
 Chad
Support:
 United States[1]
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Libya
Commanders and leaders
Chad Hassan Djamous[2] Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Unknown
Strength
2,000[1] 2,500[2]
70+ tanks
30+ APCs
26–32 aircraft
Casualties and losses
65 killed
112 wounded[3]
1,000[4][5]–1,713[6] killed
300 captured
70 tanks destroyed
30 APCs destroyed
26[7]–32[5] aircraft destroyed
8 radar stations destroyed
1 radar scrambling device destroyed
Battle of Maaten al-Sarra is located in Chad
Battle of Maaten al-Sarra
Location of the Maaten al-Sarra Airbase within Libya, in relation to Chad.

The Battle of Maaten al-Sarra was fought between Chad and Libya on September 5, 1987, during the Toyota War. The battle took the form of a surprise Chadian raid against the Libyan Maaten al-Sarra Air Base, meant to remove the threat of Libyan airpower, that had already thwarted the Chadian attack on the Aouzou Strip in August. The first clash ever held in Libyan territory since the beginning of the Chadian–Libyan conflict,[1] the attack was fully successful, causing a high number of Libyan casualties and low Chadian casualties, also contributing to the definitive ceasefire signed on September 11 among the warring countries.[7]

  1. ^ a b c Greenwald, John (September 21, 1987). "Disputes Raiders of the Armed Toyotas". Time. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
  2. ^ a b K. Pollack, Arabs at War, 396
  3. ^ K. Pollack, 397
  4. ^ M. Azevedo, Roots of Violence, 125
  5. ^ a b T. Collelo, Chad
  6. ^ "N'Djamena sends troops into Libya". The New York Times. September 13, 1987. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  7. ^ a b K. Pollack, 396–397