Battle of Vescera

Battle of Vescera
Part of the Muslim conquest of North Africa and the Arab–Byzantine Wars
Date 682 Location Near Vescera Result Decisive Berber and Byzantine victory
Belligerents
Umayyad Caliphate	Byzantine Empire,   Berbers
Commanders and leaders
Uqba ibn Nafi	Caecilius
Strength
3000	5000-7000
Casualties and losses
Very high	Low

The Battle of Vescera (modern Biskra in Algeria) was fought in 682 or 683 between the Berbers of king Caecilius and their Byzantine allies from the Exarchate of Carthage against an Umayyad Arab army under Uqba ibn Nafi (the founder of Kairouan).^[1] Uqba ibn Nafi had led his men in an expedition across north Africa, eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean and marching as far south as the Draa and Sous rivers. On his return, he was ambushed by the Berber-Byzantine coalition at Tahuda south Vescera, defeated and killed. As a result of this crushing defeat, the Arabs were expelled from the area of modern Tunisia for a decade.^[2]

Citation

1. McKenna, Amy (2011). The History of Northern Africa. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 1615303189.
2. Conant, Jonathan (2012). Staying Roman : conquest and identity in Africa and the Mediterranean, 439-700. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 280–281. ISBN 0521196973.