List of invasions in the 21st century

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

Invasion	Invading forces	Defending forces
2024 invasion of Lebanon	Israel	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	Ukraine	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 Beit Hanoun Gaza City Jabalia Khan Yunis Rafah	Israel	Gaza Strip Hamas Islamic Jihad PFLP DFLP 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^[1]^[2]^[3]
2022 al-Shabaab invasion of Ethiopia	Al-Shabaab	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.^[4] The invasion was the largest attack by al-Shabaab in Ethiopian territory to date.^[5]
2022 invasion of Ukraine Eastern Avdiivka Kharkiv Mariupol Northern Kyiv Chernihiv Sumy Snake Island Southern Kherson Mykolaiv Enerhodar	Russia Donetsk PR Luhansk PR	Ukraine Support and supplies from: European Union 45 sovereign countries
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.^[6]^[7]^[8] 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	Senegal Nigeria Ghana Mali Togo	Gambia
2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza Shuja'iyya	Israel	Gaza Strip Hamas Islamic Jihad PFLP DFLP
2014 invasion of Ukraine Crimea Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast	Russia	Ukraine
Part of the Russo-Ukrainian War –
2011 Invasion of Libya	NATO^[a]	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Part of the Arab spring and the First Libyan Civil War –
2011 invasion of Somalia	Kenya	Somalia
Part of the Somali civil war –
2009 invasion of Gaza	Israel	Gaza Strip Hamas Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine Fatah Popular Resistance Committees
Part of the Gaza–Israel conflict –
2008 invasion of Georgia	Russia	Georgia
Part of the Abkhazia conflict, Georgian–Ossetian conflict, and Post-Soviet conflicts –
2008 invasion of Anjouan	Comoros Senegal Sudan Tanzania France Libyan Arab Jamahiriya United States	Anjouan

2006 invasion of Lebanon	Israel	Hezbollah
On July 22, Israel launched a military invasion of Lebanon against Hezbollah.
2006 invasion of Somalia	Ethiopia Transitional Federal Government United States^[9]	Islamic Courts Union ONLF^[10]^[11] Eritrea
Part of the Ethiopian–Somali conflict –
2004 invasion of Gaza	Israel	Hamas Islamic Jihad PRC
Part of the Second Intifada –
2003 invasion of Iraq	United States United Kingdom Australia Poland	Iraq
Part of the war on terror and the Iraq War
2001 invasion of Afghanistan	United States United Kingdom Northern Alliance Canada Italy Germany Australia New Zealand Iran	Taliban Al-Qaeda Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan^[12] Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi^[13]^[14] Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad^[15]^[16]
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.

Notes

^ Enforcing UNSC Resolution 1973

References

^ "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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Caleb Weiss; Ryan O'Farrell (25 July 2022). "Analysis: Shabaab's multi-day incursion into Ethiopia". Long War Journal. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
^ Harun Maruf (26 July 2022). "Why Did Al-Shabab Attack Inside Ethiopia?". VOA. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
^ 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.
^ 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. ...
^ 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. ...
^ 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.
^ "Ogaden rebels destroy Ethiopian military convoy en route to Somalia". Sudan Tribune. Ogaden National Liberation Front. 2006-12-24. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
^ "Ogaden rebels to resist Ethiopian army if it attacks Somali-statement". Sudan Tribune. Ogaden National Liberation Front. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
^ "Uzbek Militancy in Pakistan's Tribal Region" (PDF). Institute for the Study of War. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
^ "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)
^ "Top Pakistani militant released". BBC News. 2008-04-21. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
^ Whitlock, Craig (June 8, 2006). "Al-Zarqawi's Biography". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
^ Bergen, Peter. " The Osama bin Laden I Know, 2006

[9] Enforcing UNSC Resolution 1973

[1] "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.

[2] 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.

[3] 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.

[4] Caleb Weiss; Ryan O'Farrell (25 July 2022). "Analysis: Shabaab's multi-day incursion into Ethiopia". Long War Journal. Retrieved 30 July 2022.

[voa1-5] Harun Maruf (26 July 2022). "Why Did Al-Shabab Attack Inside Ethiopia?". VOA. Retrieved 30 July 2022.

[6] 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.

[7] 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. ...

[8] 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. ...

[10] 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.

[11] "Ogaden rebels destroy Ethiopian military convoy en route to Somalia". Sudan Tribune. Ogaden National Liberation Front. 2006-12-24. Retrieved 2023-12-14.

[12] "Ogaden rebels to resist Ethiopian army if it attacks Somali-statement". Sudan Tribune. Ogaden National Liberation Front. 28 November 2006. Retrieved 2023-12-14.

[13] "Uzbek Militancy in Pakistan's Tribal Region" (PDF). Institute for the Study of War. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 2023-11-30.

[14] "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)

[15] "Top Pakistani militant released". BBC News. 2008-04-21. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2023-11-30.

[16] Whitlock, Craig (June 8, 2006). "Al-Zarqawi's Biography". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved 2023-11-30.

[17] Bergen, Peter. " The Osama bin Laden I Know, 2006

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See also

Notes

References