First Battle of Benghazi

First Battle of Benghazi
Part of Libyan Civil War

A downtown Benghazi government revolutionary committee office after it was torched by demonstrators.
Date15–20 February 2011
Location
Benghazi, Bayda, Derna, Libya
Result

Decisive Anti-Gaddafi victory

Belligerents

Libya Anti-Gaddafi forces

Libya Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Commanders and leaders
Libya Abdul Fatah Younis (last day) Libya Al-Saadi Gaddafi[1]
Strength
10,000[2] Khamis Brigade
Fadheel Brigade
Tariq Brigade[3]
325 mercenaries[4]
Casualties and losses
Benghazi:
110[5]-257 killed[6]
9 missing[7]
Bayda:
63 killed[8]
Derna:
29 killed[8]
Rebel soldiers:
130 killed[8]
Total:
332-479 killed
9 missing
3 T-54/55 tanks or IFVs destroyed		 163 killed
236 captured
3 T-54/55 tanks or IFVs destroyed[9]

The First Battle of Benghazi was fought between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi forces in February 2011 during the Libyan Civil War. The battle mainly took place in Benghazi, the second-largest city in Libya, with related clashes occurring in the nearby Cyrenaican cities of Bayda and Derna. In Benghazi itself most of the fighting occurred during a siege of the government-controlled Katiba compound.[5]

  1. ^ "Saadi Gaddafi 'gave order to shoot' in Benghazi revolt". BBC. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  2. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (20 February 2011). "Libya protests: gunshots, screams and talk of revolution". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  3. ^ Hill, Evan (1 March 2011). "The day the Katiba fell". Al Jazeera. Benghazi. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  4. ^ Hauslohner, Abigail (23 February 2011). "Libya's Alleged Foreign Mercenaries: More Gaddafi Victims?". Time. Shahhat. Archived from the original on 26 February 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  5. ^ a b Schemm, Paul (25 February 2011). "Battle at army base broke Gadhafi hold in Benghazi". Washington Post. Benghazi. Associated Press. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  6. ^ Simpson, John (3 March 2011). "Libya revolt: Gaddafi in crimes against humanity probe". BBC News. Aqayla. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  7. ^ "Libya: detainees, disappeared and missing". Amnesty International. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  8. ^ a b c "Over 640 die in Libya unrest". News AU. Agence France-Presse. 24 February 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Libya Protests: Benghazi Learns To Govern Itself". Huffington Post. Benghazi. Associated Press. 24 February 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2012.