Capture of Kufra

The Capture of Kufra (French: Prise de Koufra, Italian: Cufra) was part of the Allied Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War. Kufra is a group of oases in the Kufra District of south-eastern Cyrenaica in the Libyan Desert. In 1940, it was part of the colony of Italian LibyaLibia Italiana, which was part of Africa Settentrionale Italiana (ASI), which had been established in 1934. With some early assistance from the British Long Range Desert Group, Kufra was besieged from 31 January to 1 March 1941 by Free French forces from French Equatorial Africa which forced the surrender of the Italian and Libyan garrison.