The U.S. attacked Libyan patrol boats from January to March 1986 during clashes over access to the Gulf of Sidra, which Libya claimed as territorial waters. Later, on April 15, 1986, Ronald Reagan ordered major bombing raids, dubbed Operation El Dorado Canyon, against Tripoli and Benghazi, killing 45 Libyan military and government personnel as well as 15 civilians. This strike followed U.S. interception of Telex messages from Libya’s East Berlin embassy suggesting Libyan government involvement in a bomb explosion in West Berlin’s La Belle discotheque, a nightclub frequented by U.S. servicemen on April 5.
