Key cities in Sicily continue to fall into Muslim hands, an indication of the strength of Arab forces in the Mediterranean.

In the summer of 868, the Romans had been defeated for the first time near the important citadel of Syracuse.

At the time of the ascension of Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya in 875, most of Sicily was already in Aghlabid hands.

During Ibrahim's emirate, there is little stability in the provincial government of Aghlabid Sicily; governors are appointed and switched almost yearly.

Hostilities had resumed in the early summer of 877 by Ibrahim II's newest deputy in Sicily, Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Tamini, who had overrun the Roman-held eastern part of the island and besieged Syracuse.

The city falls on May 21, 878, bringing the Muslim conquest of Sicily to near completion.

Only Taormina, Catania and a couple of other outposts remain in imperial hands.