Conflict: Nigerian Civil War
Combatants: Biafrans vs. Nigerians
Location: Nigeria
Outcome: Biafran victory
In May of 1967, the southeastern region of Nigeria declared independence as the Republic of Biafra. Nigerian forces were ordered into the region to end the rebellion, but the Biafran forces threw them back and, on August 8th, captured the capitol of Benia.
Points of Interest:
Biafra surrendered in January of 1970 after suffering nearly 2 million military and civilian casualties.
Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the leader of the Biafran Secession, fled to exile in the Ivory Coast at the end of the war.
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Sources:
Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).
Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.
Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
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