Editing 971 (section)

==== Middle East ====
* [[Battle of Alexandretta]]: The Byzantines defeat a [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]] force (4,000 men) near [[İskenderun|Alexandretta]] (modern [[Turkey]]), while the main Fatimid army is besieging the fortress city of [[Antioch]]. Coupled with news of an advance against [[Damascus]] of the [[Qarmatians]], the Fatimids are forced to lift the siege and withdraw to [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|Egypt]].
* [[First Qarmatian invasion of Egypt]]: The [[Qarmatians]] under [[al-Hasan al-A'sam]] invade Syria, recently conquered by the [[Fatimid Caliphate]], capturing [[Damascus]] and [[Ramla]], defeating a major Fatimid army and blockading another in [[Jaffa]]. A subsequent invasion of Egypt leads to widespread anti-Fatimid revolts in the [[Nile Delta]], but the delay allows the Fatimid general [[Jawhar (general)|Jawhar]] to prepare his defences, leading to the decisive Qarmatian at [[Ayn Shams]] on 24 December and the collapse of the invasion.<ref>{{cite book | last = Brett | first = Michael | title = The Rise of the Fatimids: The World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Fourth Century of the Hijra, Tenth Century CE | series = The Medieval Mediterranean | volume = 30 | publisher = Brill | location = Leiden, Boston, Köln | year = 2001 | isbn = 90-04-11741-5 | url = {{Google Books|BqCdfhW3nVwC|plainurl=y}} | pages=313–315}}</ref>