List of invasions in the 21st century

Last updated

This is a list of military invasions that occurred or are still ongoing in the 21st century.

Contents

List

InvasionInvading forcesDefending forces
2024 Israeli invasion of Syria Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Syrian revolution flag.svg Syria
Part of the Syrian Civil War – On 8 December, Israel launched an invasion of Syria after the fall of the Syrian Arab Republic [1] [2] [3]
2024 invasion of Lebanon Flag of Israel.svg  Israel InfoboxHez.PNG  Hezbollah
Part of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) – On 1 October, Israel launched a military invasion of Lebanon against Hezbollah
August 2024 Ukrainian invasion of Kursk Oblast Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Part of the Russo-Ukrainian War – On 6 August, Ukraine launched a military invasion of Kursk Oblast. The largest settlement captured by Ukraine was Sudzha.
2023 invasion of the Gaza Strip Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Flag of Palestine.svg Gaza Strip
Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Hamas
Islamic Jihad
PFLP
Flag of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.svg DFLP
Flag of the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades.svg  PRC
Jaysh al-Ummah (Gaza)
Part of the Israel–Hamas war – After being attacked by Hamas earlier in 2023, Israel launched a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip to remove Hamas from political and military power, laying siege to Gaza City and Khan Yunis [4] [5] [6]
2022 al-Shabaab invasion of Ethiopia AQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Al-Shabaab Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia
Part of the Ethiopian–Somali conflict and Somali civil war – On 20 July, the Al-Shabaab militant group launched an invasion of Ethiopia’s Somali Region from Somalia. [7] The invasion was the largest attack by al-Shabaab in Ethiopian territory to date. [8]
2022 invasion of Ukraine Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Flag of Donetsk People's Republic.svg Donetsk PR
Flag of the Luhansk People's Republic.svg Luhansk PR
Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine
Support and supplies from:
Part of the Russo-Ukrainian War – On 24 February, Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. The invasion became the largest attack on a European country since World War II. [9] [10] [11] It is estimated to have caused tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties and hundreds of thousands of military casualties. By June 2022, Russian troops occupied about 20% of Ukrainian territory and established military or military-civilian administrations in several regions and cities.
2017 invasion of the Gambia Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal
Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria
Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali
Flag of Togo (3-2).svg  Togo
Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia
2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Flag of Palestine.svg Gaza Strip
Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Hamas
Islamic Jihad
PFLP
Flag of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.svg DFLP
2014 invasion of Ukraine Flag of Russia.svg RussiaFlag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine
Part of the Russo-Ukrainian War
2011 Invasion of Libya Flag of NATO.svg  NATO [a] Flag of Libya (1977-2011).svg  Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Part of the Arab Spring and the First Libyan Civil War
2011 invasion of Somalia Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia
Part of the Somali civil war
2009 invasion of Gaza Flag of Israel.svg IsraelFlag of Palestine.svg Gaza Strip
Part of the Gaza–Israel conflict
2008 invasion of Georgia Flag of Russia.svg RussiaFlag of Georgia.svg  Georgia
Part of the Abkhazia conflict, Georgian–Ossetian conflict, and Post-Soviet conflicts
2008 invasion of Anjouan Flag of the Comoros.svg  Comoros
Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal
Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France
Flag of Libya (1977-2011).svg  Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Anjouan (1997-2012).svg  Anjouan
2006 invasion of Lebanon Flag of Israel.svg  Israel InfoboxHez.PNG  Hezbollah
On July 22, Israel launched a military invasion of Lebanon against Hezbollah.
2006 invasion of Somalia Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia
Flag of Somalia.svg Transitional Federal Government
Flag of the United States.svg  United States [12]
Shahadah Flag.svg Islamic Courts Union
Flag of Ogaden National Liberation Front.svg ONLF [13] [14]
Flag of Eritrea.svg Eritrea
Part of the Ethiopian–Somali conflict
2004 invasion of Gaza Flag of Israel.svg Israel Flag of al-Qassam Brigades.svg Hamas
Flag placeholder.svg Islamic Jihad
PRC
Part of the Second Intifada
2003 invasion of Iraq Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
Flag of Iraq, 1991-2004.svg Iraq
Part of the war on terror and the Iraq War
2001 invasion of Afghanistan Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of Afghanistan (1992-2001).svg Northern Alliance
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
Flag of the Taliban.svg  Taliban
Flag of Jihad.svg Al-Qaeda
Flag of Jihad.svg Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan [15]
Tnsm-flag.svg Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi [16] [17]
Flag of JTJ.svg Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad [18] [19]
Part of the War in Afghanistan – Following the September 11 attacks, the United States declared the beginning of the war on terror. This subsequently led a multinational invasion of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, which started on 7 October 2001. The goal of the invasion was to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the attacks under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, and to deny Islamist militants a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by toppling the Taliban government. The capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul, was captured by the coalition on 13 November and the Taliban government collapsed on 17 December.

See also

Notes

References

  1. Ali Haj Suleiman. "In Quneitra, nobody can celebrate al-Assad's fall amid Israel's invasion". Al Jazeera .
  2. "Top Syrian Druze leader condemns Israeli invasion". Middle East Eye .
  3. "World silent as Israel expands invasion of Syria". The New Arab .
  4. "Has Israel invaded Gaza? The military has been vague, even if its objectives are clear". Associated Press . 31 October 2023. Archived from the original on 1 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  5. Boxerman, Aaron (1 November 2023). "Israel Confirms Deaths of 15 Soldiers in Ground Invasion of Gaza". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  6. Turak, Natasha (12 December 2023). "Can Hamas actually be eliminated? This is what military and security analysts think". CNBC . Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  7. Caleb Weiss; Ryan O'Farrell (25 July 2022). "Analysis: Shabaab's multi-day incursion into Ethiopia". Long War Journal. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  8. Harun Maruf (26 July 2022). "Why Did Al-Shabab Attack Inside Ethiopia?". VOA. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. Plokhy, Serhii (16 May 2023). The Russo-Ukrainian War: From the bestselling author of Chernobyl. Penguin Books. ISBN   978-1-80206-179-6. ... If the collapse of the USSR was sudden and largely bloodless, growing strains between its two largest successors would develop into limited fighting in the Donbas in 2014 and then into all-out warfare in 2022, causing death, destruction, and a refugee crisis on a scale not seen in Europe since the Second World War.
  10. Ramani, Samuel (13 April 2023). Putin's War on Ukraine: Russia's Campaign for Global Counter-Revolution. Hurst Publishers. ISBN   978-1-80526-003-5. ... However, the scale of Russia's invasion of Ukraine is unprecedented in modern history and, in terms of human costs, is Moscow's largest military intervention in the post-1945 period. ...
  11. D'Anieri, Paul (23 March 2023). Ukraine and Russia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-009-31550-0. ... . Russia had done the unthinkable, deliberately starting the biggest war in Europe since World War II. ...
  12. Axe, David (2 December 2010). "WikiLeaked Cable Confirms U.S.' Secret Somalia Op". Wired . The Washington Post's Pauline Jelinek, citing anonymous sources, described U.S. Special Forces accompanying Ethiopian troops. CBS news revealed that U.S. Air Force gunships were active over southern Somalia during the Ethiopian blitz. Through all the reporting, U.S. officials remained vague or silent on the subject of Washington's involvement. All the same, evidence was mounting that the U.S. had played a leading role in the Ethiopian invasion.
  13. "Ogaden rebels destroy Ethiopian military convoy en route to Somalia". Sudan Tribune . Ogaden National Liberation Front. 2006-12-24. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  14. "Ogaden rebels to resist Ethiopian army if it attacks Somali-statement". Sudan Tribune . Ogaden National Liberation Front. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  15. "Uzbek Militancy in Pakistan's Tribal Region" (PDF). Institute for the Study of War. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  16. "Inside rebel Pakistan cleric's domain - USATODAY.com". USA Today . 2009-05-01. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved 2023-11-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. "Top Pakistani militant released". BBC News. 2008-04-21. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  18. Whitlock, Craig (June 8, 2006). "Al-Zarqawi's Biography". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
  19. Bergen, Peter. " The Osama bin Laden I Know, 2006