Second Italo-Senussi War

The Second Italo-Senussi War, also referred to as the Pacification of Libya, was a conflict that occurred during the Italian colonization of Libya between Italian military forces (composed of Italian and colonial troops from Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia) and indigenous rebels associated with the Senussi Order. The war lasted from 1923 until 1932, when the principal Senussi leader, Omar al-Mukhtar, was captured and executed. The Libyan genocide took place during and after the conflict.

Events leading to World War II
 1910s
 1920s
 1930s

This article is about the conflict between Italian forces and indigenous rebels in 1923–1932. For the genocide of Libyans in 1929–1934, see Libyan genocide.
Second Italo-Senussi War
Part of the interwar period

Senussi rebel leader Omar Mukhtar (the man in traditional clothing with a chain on his left arm) after his arrest by Italian armed forces in 1931. Mukhtar was executed in a public hanging shortly afterward.
Date26 January 1923 – 24 January 1932
Location
Italian Tripolitania, Italian Cyrenaica
Result

Italian victory

  • Defeat of the Cyrenaican and Tripolitanian rebels
  • Stabilization of Italian rule in Libya
  • Libyan genocide; mass deaths of Cyrenaican indigenous civilians
  • Execution of Senussi Cyrenaican rebel leader Omar Mukhtar
Belligerents
 Italy Senussi Order
Commanders and leaders
Benito Mussolini
Omar al-Mukhtar 
Yusuf Burahil 
Fadil Bu Umar 
Casualties and losses
40,000–70,000 dead

Fighting took place in all three of Libya's provinces (Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica), but was most intense and prolonged in the mountainous Jebel Akhdar region of Cyrenaica. The war led to the mass deaths of the indigenous people of Cyrenaica, totalling one quarter of the region's population of 225,000. Italian war crimes included the use of chemical weapons, execution of surrendering combatants, and the mass killing of civilians, while the Senussis were accused of torture and mutilation of captured Italians and refusal to take prisoners since the late 1910s. Italian authorities forcibly expelled 100,000 Bedouin Cyrenaicans, half the population of Cyrenaica, from their settlements, many of which were then given to Italian settlers.

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