Battle of Fort Lahtzanit

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Battle of Fort Lahtzanit

Date and place: October 6, 1973, Sinai, Egypt. The battle took place at Fort Lahtzanit, a fort on the Bar Lev Line near Port Fouad.

What happened: The Egyptians launched Operation Badr at the start of the Yom Kippur War and aimed to break through the Bar Lev Line. At Fort Lahtzanit, Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal and tried to isolate the fort from all sides. An artillery barrage opened the attack, then infantry crossed the canal and seized a firing ramp on the fort’s eastern side, drawing Israeli fire and helping the main assault.

The Egyptians’ plan worked. They breached the fort’s barbed wire, opened breaches with engineers, and pushed the main assault into the Israeli trenches. By about 3:05–3:20 pm the southern part of the fort was captured, and within about an hour the fort was under Egyptian control. The power and communications inside the fort were cut, and by around 4:00 pm contact with the fort was lost.

Aftermath: The Egyptians cleared the bunkers with flamethrowers and captured 26 Israeli prisoners. The garrison commander, Lieutenant Muli Malhov, was killed during the fighting. Egyptian forces held the fort by the evening, despite Israeli air attacks later that night. The battle ended in an Egyptian victory and the fort became the first Bar Lev fort to fall during Operation Badr.

Casualties: Israelis 60 killed and 26 captured; Egyptians 23 killed (including one officer) and 7 wounded (including two officers). Five Egyptian tanks were destroyed during the fighting.