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Battle of Mirbat 1972

Battle of Mirbat: Mirbat14
Image: 9591353082 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date19 July 1972Wikidata
Year1972Wikidata P585 (point in time)
EraPost-1945 (1946 onwards)derived from year
LocationOmanNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentAsiaNatural Earth
War / conflictDhofar RebellionWikidata P361
ParticipantsOman, Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf, United KingdomWikidata P710
Coordinates16.9925, 54.6919Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of Mirbat (19 July 1972) was an attack by the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG) targeting an Omani government position in the town of Mirbat, Oman. During the Dhofar Rebellion, Britain assisted the Omani government, an absolute monarchy, by sending elements of its Special Air Service (SAS) both to train soldiers and fight against the PFLOAG guerrillas. The assault was defeated after the arrival of several BAC Strikemaster attack aircraft belonging to Oman, firing rockets at PFLOAG's positions, which forced the guerrillas to retreat. After the battle the British and their allies recovered the corpses of the attacking guerrillas, some were put on public display as a tool of terror, to act as warnings to potential left-wing rebels who were tempted to join the rebellion against Oman's government.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Mirbat (revision 1377622210), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

16.9925, 54.6919 · Oman

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Further reading