Sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir

Sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir
	Part of the Ottoman-Habsburg wars
	; Oran's harbour. Painting of 1613 by Vicente Mestre.
Date	April – June 1563
Location	Oran and Mers El Kébir, Algeria
Result	Spanish victory Spanish forces keep the fort until Algerian forces retreat after arrival of Spanish naval reinforcements.;
Belligerents
Spanish Empire	Regency of Algiers; Kingdom of Ait Abbas; Kingdom of Kuku; France
Commanders and leaders
Alonso de Córdoba; Martín de Córdoba; Francisco de Mendoza y Vargas; Álvaro de Bazán	Hasan Pasha; Jafar Catania; son of Ahmed Belkadi†
Strength
1,500 men; 90 guns; Naval reinforcements: 34 galley and 4000 men	15.000 men; 10 000 horsemen; 30 galleys; 15 galliots and fustas; 5 carracks
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy human losses,; 5 galliots captured,; 4 carracks captured

The sieges of Oran and Mers El Kébir of 1563 is a major attempt by the regency of Algiers to retake the cities of Mers el-Kébir and Oran from the Spanish.

Between April and June 1563 in the larger Ottoman-Habsburg wars of the Mediterranean, the Regency of Algiers launched a major military offensive to retake the Spanish military-bases of Oran and Mers el Kébir on the Mediterranean North African coast of Algeria occupied by Spain since 1505. The Kingdom of Algiers, the Principalities of Kabyle (Kuku and Beni Abbes), and other vassal tribes combined forces as one army under Hasan Pasha, son of Hayreddin Barbarossa, Jafar Catania, and son of Ahmed Belkadi the sultan of Kuku kingdom. The Spanish commander brothers, Alonso de Córdoba Count of Alcaudete and Martín de Córdoba, managed to hold the strongholds of Oran and Mers El Kébir, respectively, until the relief fleet of Francisco de Mendoza arrived and lead to Algerians forces retreat.