battle, Cold War

Battle of Mirbat

Name: Battle of Mirbat
Start: 1972-07-19
Location: Mirbat, Oman

Battle of Mirbat was a battle fought on 19 July 1972 at Mirbat, in what is now Oman. It was part of the Dhofar Rebellion, which ran from 1963 to 1976. The recorded result: British–Omani victory.

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Fought19 July 1972

WhereMirbat, Oman16.992N, 54.692E

OutcomeBritish–Omani victory

BelligerentsUnited Kingdom; OmanagainstPopular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG)

Casualties and losses2 SAS soldiers killed; 2 Gendarmes killed; 1 jet damagedand38 - 80 killed; 12 captured

Part ofDhofar Rebellion1963 to 1976

Where it sits in the Dhofar Rebellion

3 placed engagements of the Dhofar Rebellion in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date	19 July 1972
Place	Mirbat, Oman 16.992N, 54.692E
Kind	Battle, Cold War
Strength	10 British soldiers (9 SAS, 1 Int Corps); 25 men from Omani Gendarmerie; 30 Balochi Askari; 60 soldiers of a local firqat; 12 BAC Strikemaster light attack jets; 21 SAS reinforcements; 3 helicopters	200–300 guerrillas
Casualties and losses	2 SAS soldiers killed; 2 Gendarmes killed; 1 jet damaged	38 - 80 killed; 12 captured
Commanders	Mike Kealy

The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Capture of Muscat 1552, 840 km NE
Capture of Muscat 1649, 841 km NE
Battle of the Gulf of Oman 1554, 954 km N
Battle of Dschask 1620, 1016 km N
Conquest of al-Hasa 1913, 1075 km NW

In the same war

Before: Operation Simba 1972
All 3 engagements of Dhofar Rebellion

Elsewhere in 1972

Operation Linebacker II Vietnam
Easter Offensive Vietnam
Battle of Kontum Vietnam
First Battle of Quảng Trị Vietnam
1972 Israeli air raid in Syria and Lebanon Israel

Battle of Mirbat is one of 4,429 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 10 in present-day Oman.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q2889338, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Mirbat, revision 1377622210, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.