List of wars involving Saudi Arabia

This is a list of wars involving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its predecessor states.

First Saudi state (1744–1818)

Main article: First Saudi state

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Monarch
Ottoman-Saudi War (1811–1818)	Emirate of Diriyah	Ottoman Empire Eyalet of Egypt	Ottoman-Egyptian victory	Saud I

Second Saudi state (1824–1891)

Main article: Second Saudi state

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Monarch
Attack on Dammam (3–4 February 1866)	Emirate of Nejd	United Kingdom	Saudi victory	Abdullah bin Faisal

Emirate of Riyadh (1902–1913)

Main article: Emirate of Riyadh

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Monarch
First Saudi–Rashidi War (1903–1907)	Emirate of Riyadh Otaibah tribe Mutayr tribe	Emirate of Ha'il Ottoman Empire	Saudi Victory	Ibn Saud
Conquest of al-Hasa (1913)	Emirate of Riyadh Ikhwan	Ottoman Empire	Riyadh victory

Emirate of Nejd and Hasa (1913–1921)

Main article: Emirate of Nejd and Hasa

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Monarch
Second Saudi-Rashidi War (1915–1918)	Emirate of Nejd and Hasa	Emirate of Jabal Shammar	Inconclusive Saudi offensive halted	Ibn Saud
Kuwait–Najd War (1919–1920)	Emirate of Nejd and Hasa Ikhwan	Emirate of Kuwait	Inconclusive Uqair Protocol of 1922 Kuwait lost more than two thirds of its territory as a result of the agreement [1]

Sultanate of Nejd (1921–1926)

Main article: Sultanate of Nejd

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Monarch
Conquest of Ha'il (1921)	Sultanate of Nejd	Emirate of Jabal Shammar	Victory Incorporation of Jabal Shammar.	Ibn Saud
Saudi Conquest of Hejaz (1924–1925)	Sultanate of Nejd Ikhwan	Kingdom of Hejaz	Victory Incorporation of Hejaz.	Ibn Saud

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1932–present)

Main article: Saudi Arabia

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Monarch
Saudi–Yemeni War (1934)	Saudi Arabia	Yemen	Victory Treaty of Taif signed on 14 June 1934, guaranteeing 20 years of peace between Saudi Arabia and Yemen Saudi Arabia leaves and Yemen gains control of Al-Hudaydah Jizan, Asir, and Najran became the provinces of Saudi Arabia	Ibn Saud
First Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949)	Arab League :   Egypt [2] All-Palestine Protectorate [a] Holy War Army [a] Transjordan [2]   Iraq [2] Syria [2] Lebanon [b] Saudi Arabia [4]   Yemen [5] Irregulars: Arab Liberation Army Al-Najjada Holy War Army	Israel Before 26 May 1948: Yishuv Paramilitary groups: Haganah Palmach Hish Him Irgun Lehi Allied Bedouin tribes [6] [7] After 26 May 1948: Israel Defense Forces Minorities Unit Foreign volunteers: Mahal	Defeat Arab League invasion of former Mandatory Palestine repelled 1949 Armistice Agreements Establishment of the State of Israel, Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, Egyptian occupation of the Gaza Strip 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight Beginning of the Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency
North Yemen Civil War (1962–1965)	Kingdom of Yemen Saudi Arabia	Yemen Arab Republic United Arab Republic	Defeat Saudi Arabia stopped supplying the Royalists	Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Al-Wadiah War (1969)	Saudi Arabia Pakistan [8] [9]	South Yemen	Victory al-Wadiah and Sharurah captured by Saudi forces [10]	Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Yom Kippur War (1973)	Egypt Syria Expeditionary forces Saudi Arabia [11] Algeria [12] Jordan Libya Iraq Kuwait [13] Tunisia Morocco [14] Cuba North Korea [15] [16]	Israel	Defeat [17] At the final ceasefire: Egyptian forces held 1,200 km2 (460 sq mi) on the eastern bank of the canal. [18] Israeli forces held 1,600 km2 (620 sq mi) on the western bank of the canal. [19] Israeli forces held 500 km2 (193 sq mi) of the Syrian Bashan region of the Golan Heights.
Lebanese Civil War (1976–1979)	ADF Syria Saudi Arabia Sudan United Arab Emirates Libya South Yemen	LF FLA	Victory [20] ADF mission goals achieved [20] ADF becomes an all-Syrian force in 1979	Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Grand Mosque seizure (1979)	Saudi Arabia	Ikhwan	Victory Saudi troops suppress uprising Execution of Juhayman and his followers publicly by decapitation
Gulf War (1990–1991)	Kuwait United States United Kingdom Saudi Arabia France Canada Egypt Syria Oman United Arab Emirates Qatar Italy Australia	Iraq	Victory Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait; Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah restored Heavy casualties and destruction of Iraqi and Kuwaiti Infrastructure	Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Iraqi No-Fly Zone Enforcement Operations (1991–2003)	United States United Kingdom France Australia Belgium Netherlands Saudi Arabia Turkey Italy	Iraq	Victory Various bombings of Iraqi forces both aerial and naval Mass numbers of Iraqi targets killed or destroyed Reduction in Iraqi air defense Beginning of the Iraq War
First Intervention in the Somali Civil War (1992–1995)	United States United Kingdom Spain Saudi Arabia Malaysia Pakistan Italy India Greece Germany France Canada Botswana Belgium Australia New Zealand	Somali National Alliance	Defeat Failure to capture SNA leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid; specific Aidid lieutenants captured Civil war is ongoing
Operation Ocean Shield (2009–2016)	NATO Malaysia South Korea India Saudi Arabia	Somali pirates	Victory Number of pirate attacks have decreased dramatically since the start of such operations, however attacks still occur near the coast waters of Oman, Yemen, Kenya, and Somalia Piracy drops 90% [21]	Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Sixth Sa'dah War (2009–2010)	Yemen Saudi Arabia Jordan Morocco	Houthis	Stalemate [22] Houthis consolidate control over Sa'dah
American-led intervention in the Syrian civil war (2014–2018)	CJTF-OIR United States United Kingdom France Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Italy Denmark Jordan		Forces withdrawn
War on ISIS (2014–)	Iraq Iraqi Kurdistan Free Syrian Army Rojava United States United Kingdom Jordan Turkey Saudi Arabia Bahrain Qatar United Arab Emirates Morocco Australia Belgium Canada France Germany Denmark Norway Russia Iran	Islamic State al-Nusra Front Khorasan	Ongoing Multinational intervention against Syrian Islamists
Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen (2015–)	Hadi government Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Senegal Sudan Qatar Bahrain Kuwait Jordan Morocco Egypt France	Houthi government Houthis Saleh loyalists Ansar al-Sharia Islamic State	Ongoing Houthis dissolve Yemeni government Houthis take control of northern Yemen Conflict in Najran, Jizan and Asir	Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Notes

1. After 22 September 1948
2. Lebanon had decided to not participate in the war and only took part in the battle of al-Malikiya on 5–6 June 1948. ^[3]

References

1. Tétreault, Mary Ann (1995). The Kuwait petroleum corporation and the economics of the new world order. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books. ISBN   978-0-89930-510-3.
2. Oren 2003, p. 5.
3. Morris (2008), p. 260.
4. Gelber, pp. 55, 200, 239
5. Morris, Benny (2008), 1948: The First Arab-Israeli War, Yale University Press, p. 205, New Haven, ISBN   978-0-300-12696-9.
6. Palestine Post, "Israel's Bedouin Warriors", Gene Dison, August 12, 1948
7. AFP (24 April 2013). "Bedouin army trackers scale Israel social ladder". Al Arabiya English. Al Arabiya. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
8. Group Captain (R) Husseini & Pakistan Air Force. "Wars in the Mach-2 Era (1961-1970)". PAF over the Years. Directorate of Media Affairs, Pakistan Air Force. p. 66.
9. "What Accounts for Pakistan's Troop Deployment to Saudi Arabia?". YemenWatch. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Pakistani combat pilots also flew RSAF English Electric Lightning supersonic fighter aircraft during the al-Wadiah War between Saudi Arabia and the People's Republic of South Yemen in 1969.
10. Bidwell, Robin (1998). Dictionary Of Modern Arab History. Routledge. p. 437. ISBN   9780710305053.
11. O'Ballance (1979), pp. 201. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFO'Ballance1979 (help)
12. Shazly (2003), p. 278. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFShazly2003 (help)
13. Rabinovich (2004), pp. 464–465. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFRabinovich2004 (help)
14. Mahjoub Tobji (2006). Les officiers de Sa Majesté: Les dérives des généraux marocains 1956–2006 (in French). Fayard. p. 107. ISBN   978-2-213-63015-1.
15. Shazly (2003), pp. 83–84. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFShazly2003 (help)
16. Cenciotti, David. "Israeli F-4s Actually Fought North Korean MiGs During the Yom Kippur War". Business Insider.
17. References:
    • Herzog, The War of Atonement, Little, Brown and Company, 1975. Forward
    • Insight Team of the London Sunday Times, Yom Kippur War, Doubleday (publisher), 1974, p. 450
    • Luttwak and Horowitz, The Israeli Army. Cambridge, MA, Abt Books, 1983
    • Rabinovich, The Yom Kippur War, Schocken Books, 2004. p. 498
    • Revisiting The Yom Kippur War, P.R. Kumaraswamy, pp. 1–2 ISBN   0313313024
    • Johnson and Tierney, Failing To Win, Perception of Victory and Defeat in International Politics. p. 177
    • Charles Liebman, The Myth of Defeat: The Memory of the Yom Kippur war in Israeli Society ^{[ permanent dead link ]}Middle Eastern Studies, Vol 29, No. 3, July 1993. Published by Frank Cass, London. p. 411.
18. Rabinovich (2004), p. 467. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFRabinovich2004 (help)
19. Morris (2011), p. 437. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFMorris2011 (help)
20. SM Saseen, The Taif Accord and Lebanon's Struggle to Regain its Sovereignty, p. 63.
21. "Somali piracy is down 90 per cent from last year". The Journal. 15 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
22. Zimmerman, Katherine L. Yemen's Pivotal Moment. Critical Threats Project of the American Enterprise Institute, 2014.

Further information

• Bowen, Wayne H. (2008). The History of Saudi Arabia. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press. p. 153. ISBN   978-0313340123. OCLC   166388162.
• "Wars involving Saudi Arabia". BBC.

External links

• CBC Digital Archives – The 1991 Gulf War
• Master Index of Desert Storm Oral History Interviews Archived 2010-12-31 at the Wayback Machine by the United States Army Center of Military History
• Bibliography of the Desert Shield and Desert Storm compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History
• Persian Gulf War
• 20th Anniversary of Desert Storm in Photos