When Italian troops attacked British Somaliland in August 1940, they occupied the southern coast of the "Cote Francaise des Somalis": the 17th Colonial Brigade under Colonel Agosti occupied the French fort at Loyada on the border with British Somaliland. Later, when the Italian invasion of British Somaliland began on 3 August, the forces at Loyada moved on Zeila, which they conquered by 5 August.