Senussi campaign

The Senussi campaign took place in North Africa from November 1915 to February 1917, during the First World War. The campaign was fought by the Senussi, a religious order of Arabic nomads in Libya and Egypt, against the Kingdom of Italy and the British Empire. The Senussi were courted by the Ottoman Empire and the German Empire. Recognising French and Italian threats, the Ottoman Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, had twice sent his aide-de-camp Azmzade Sadik El Mueyyed to meet Sheikh Muhammed El Mehdi El Senussi to cultivate positive relations and counter the west European scramble for Africa.

In the summer of 1915, the Ottomans persuaded the Grand Senussi, Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, to declare jihad, attack the Italians in Libya and the British in Egypt and foment insurrection to divert British forces from the Sinai Peninsula in the east. The Senussi crossed the Libyan–Egyptian border in November 1915 and fought a campaign along the Egyptian coast. British Empire forces withdrew, then defeated the Senussi in several engagements, culminating in the action of Agagia, followed by the re-capture of the coast in March 1916. In the interior, the band of oases campaign continued until February 1917, after which a peace was negotiated and the area became a backwater for the rest of the war, patrolled by British aircraft and armoured cars.