The Libyan-Egyptian War – 3 Days
Following the Yom Kippur war, tensions between Egypt and Libya deteriorated. In 1976, the Egyptian government claimed that they had uncovered a plot by the Libyans to overthrow the government in Cairo. In response, the Egyptian government revealed that they intended to exploit the internal problems in Libya to promote actions against Libya. By July 22, 1976, the Libyan government publicly announced that they would break all diplomatic ties to Cairo if the subversive acts did not stop.
Problems continued in August when 14 people were injured by an explosion in the bathroom of an Egyptian government office. The Egyptians blamed the Libyans. Later that same month an Egyptian plane was hijacked and again the Egyptians blamed the Libyans. Libya responded by closing the Egyptian consulate and claiming to have found an Egyptian espionage network within Libya.
The Egyptian government began concentrating troops all along the Libyan border and had the support of the United States government. Tensions only worsened in April and May 1977 when demonstrators attacked the embassies of each other’s countries. In June 1977, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ordered all Egyptians out of the country by July 1 or they would be arrested. That same month Libyan protesters headed for the border of Egypt but were stopped by border guards.
On July 21, 1977, Libyan forces carried out a raid on Sallum. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat sent three divisions to the Libyan border. The divisions were able to stop the Libyan advance on Egypt. The Egyptian Air Force and the 3 divisions made their way across the Libyan border and captured several border towns. President Sadat then forced Libya into a ceasefire and withdrew on July 24, 1977. Even though the armistice was declared, the rift between the two states and their allies remained.