during the spring of 976, abu'l-qasim launched a raiding expedition on byzantine italy. his first target was the city of messina, which he found deserted upon arrival. he soon moved on to apulia, taking tribute from cosenza before sending his brother to raid the surrounding countryside. he soon crossed the straits back to sicily. during the summer of the same year, abu'l-qasim crossed back to mainland italy, where he quickly forced tribute out of st. agatha and took and razed taranto. he then sent one army to otranto while he besieged gravina, before retiring to muslim lands for the year, bringing home hundreds of captives as slaves.