Maaten al-Sarra Air Base

Infobox Airport
name = Maaten al-Sarra Libyan Air Force Base [ [http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=LY23801 World Aero Data: Matan as Sarra] ]
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type = Military
owner =
operator = Libyan Air Force
city-served =
location =
elevation-f = 1722
elevation-m = 525
coordinates = Coord|21|41|15.18|N|21|49|51.36|E|type:airport|display=inline,title
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metric-rwy =
r1-number = 01R/19L
r1-length-f = 7491
r1-length-m = 2283
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 01L/19R
r2-length-f = 11013
r2-length-m = 3357
r2-surface = Asphalt
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The Maaten al-Sarra Libyan Air Force Base is an airbase in southernmost Libya located near the Ma'tan as-Sarra oasis in the Al Kufrah municipality. It is one of the 13 military airbases in Libya. [ [http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/balance/Libya.pdf Middle East Military Balance: Libya] ]

During the final phase of the Chadian-Libyan conflict, Maaten al-Sarra was the main air base in Southern Libya [cite book|author=Vanderwalle, Dirk J.|title=A History of Modern Libya|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|pages=148|id=ISBN 0-5218-5048-7] , being provided with three modern runways and an ample parking space that could support over 100 combat aircraft. [cite book|author=Popper, Steven W.|title=The Economic Cost of Soviet Military Manpower Requirements|publisher=RAND|year=1989|pages=145|id=ISBN 0-8330-0934-6]

When in 1987 the Chadian army attacked Libyan positions in northern Chad, in the so-called Toyota War, after a string of victories the Chadians were defeated in August in the battle of Aouzou, mainly due to Libyan airpower. The Chadian commands decided that before renewing the offensive against the Aouzou Strip it was vital to deal with the menace represented by the Libyan Air Force, and thus planned a surprise attack on Maaten al-Sarra, 60 miles north of the Chadian-Libyan border. The attack, which took place on September 5, was one of the most spectacular Chadian victories in the conflict, with 1,700 Libyans killed and 300 taken prisoners. [cite book|author=Pollack, Kenneth M.|title=Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=2002|pages=396|id=ISBN 0-8032-3733-2] The Chadian victory, because of Libyan demoralization at home and international hostility, brought to an agreed ceasefire on September 11 that put an end to the war. [cite book|author=Nolutshungu, Sam C.|title=Limits of Anarchy: Intervention and State Formation in Chad|publisher=University of Virginia Press|year=1995|pages=222–223|id=ISBN 0-8139-1628-3]

References