Battle of Wazzin

Battle of Wazzin
Part of the 2011 Nafusa Mountains Campaign
Date21 April 2011 (First Phase)
24–28 April 2011 (Second Phase)
29 April – May 2011 (Third Phase)
11–29 July 2011 (Fourth Phase)
Location
Wazzin, Libya and Dehiba, Tunisia
Result

Anti-Gaddafi victory

  • Loyalist forces occasionally shelled the crossing for months afterward.
  • Fighting ongoing after the Libyan Army clashes with the Tunisian Army
Territorial
changes
  • Rebel forces capture Wazzin on 21 April.
  • Loyalist forces retake the border crossing on 28 April.
  • Rebels retake Wazzin on 4 May[2]
    • Belligerents

    Libya Anti-Gaddafi forces

     Tunisia[1]

    		Libya Armed forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
    Commanders and leaders
    Libya Mustafa Abdul Jalil
    Tunisia Fouad Mebazaa    		 Libya Col. Shu'ayb al-Firjani
    Casualties and losses

    unknown
    (1st phase)
    3 killed
    (2nd phase)*[3]
    11 killed
    (3rd phase)[4]
    Tunisia:1 civilian wounded

    Several houses destroyed or damaged[5]    		 15 killed
    14 captured
    (1st phase)

    23 killed
    (3rd phase)[6]
    *Unconfirmed report that up to 20 people in total had been killed on 28 April[7]

    The Battle of Wazzin was a conflict during the Libyan Civil War for the Libyan-Tunisian border town of Wazzin.[8][9] Rebel forces made an initial victory, but it was short-lived as Gaddafi's men re-occupied the town, only to lose it again to the rebels.

    The battle spilled over into Tunisian territory on several occasions, prompting clashes with the Tunisian military (which had not explicitly taken a side in the battle).

    The fighting turned Wazzin into something of a ghost town, valuable only as a strategic location.[10]

    1. ^ Tarek Amara (29 April 2011). "Pro-Gaddafi forces clash with Tunisian military". Reuters.
    2. ^ "Libyan Rebels Hang on to Strategic Border Crossing". NPR.
    3. ^ "Libyan forces overrun rebels on Tunisian border". Reuters. 28 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
    4. ^ 1 killed (29 April),[1] 3 killed (17 May),[2] 7 killed (18 May),[3] total of 11 reported killed Archived 29 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
    5. ^ Noueihed, Lin (2 May 2011). "Libya says Gaddafi survives air strikes, but son killed". Stuff (company). Retrieved 17 September 2011.
    6. ^ "Reporter's Notebook - al Jazeera English". Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
    7. ^ Ben Hubbard (28 April 2011). "Gadhafi forces shell frontline city in west Libya". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
    8. ^ "Need to Know News: Two photographers killed in Libya; gas prices at all time high". CNN. 21 April 2011. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
    9. ^ "#Today". 22 April 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
    10. ^ Daragahi, Borzou (25 June 2011). "Libyan's western front joins battle". Los Angeles Times.