The battle resulted in a major victory for the Umayyads and the end of organized Berber resistance to the caliphate.
During the late 7th century, forces of the Arab-dominated Umayyad Caliphate conducted a decades-long conquest of the Maghreb, then under the nominal control of the Byzantine Empire.
One major obstacle to the invasion was Dihya, a Berber queen who had fought against the Umayyad advance into Numidia.
In 698, she won a victory over the Umayyads at the Battle of Meskiana, temporarily halting Hassan ibn al-Nu'man's campaign to conquer Numidia.
The two armies clashed near the town of Tabarka near the modern Algeria–Tunisia border, where a choke point exists between the Mediterranean sea and the Aurès Mountains.