Operation Aida was a ground attack in North Africa during World War II. The operation was launched by Erwin Rommel, following his victory at the Battle of Gazala in the summer of 1942, which pushed British forces east, as far as El Alamein, 60 miles west of Alexandria. The Germans captured over six thousand British prisoners. This advance was the furthest advance of German forces in the North African Campaign, although it failed to reach its objectives of Cairo and the Suez Canal.