Second Battle of Benghazi

Second Battle of Benghazi
Part of Libyan Civil War

Remains of two Palmaria heavy howitzers of the Gaddafi forces, destroyed by French warplanes on the west-southern outskirts of Benghazi, in Opération Harmattan on 19 March 2011.
Date19–20 March 2011
LocationBenghazi, Libya
Result

Decisive strategic anti-Gaddafi victory

  • Pro-Gaddafi forces fail to recapture Benghazi
  • Turning point of 2011 Libyan Civil War
  • First UN coalition intervention against ground targets
Belligerents

Libya Anti-Gaddafi forces

United Nations UNSC Resolution 1973 forces[1]

Libya Gaddafi Loyalists

Strength

8,000 defected soldiers (rebel claim)[3]
Thousands of volunteers and militia

20 French fighter jets[4]

 Unknown
Casualties and losses
261 killed*[5]
MiG-23 shot down (by friendly fire)[6]		 27-30 killed;[7]
50 captured;[8]
70 vehicles destroyed:[9]
14 tanks or SP howitzers, 20 APCs, 2 mobile MRLs, 1 mobile SAM[10] and 33 jeeps, SUVs, technicals or trucks;[11]
4 tanks captured[12]
*The number of dead on the rebel side includes both opposition fighters and civilians

The Second Battle of Benghazi was a battle in the Libyan Civil War between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and anti-Gaddafi forces.[12] The battle marked the start of a United Nations-mandated military intervention in the conflict, with fighter jets from the French Air Force attacking and destroying several pro-Gaddafi units, forcing them to retreat.[13]

On 18 March, Gaddafi's forces bypassed Ajdabiya by using the coastal roads instead of the roads directly linked with Ajdabiya, avoiding the need to capture Ajdabiya to proceed. By night the loyalist troops had positioned themselves within kilometres of Benghazi's two southern entry points, the western southern gate being called the west gate.

Battle

Initial assault on the city

Burned buses near Garyounis university, Benghazi, possibly of pro-Gaddafi forces, as a result of the ground battle.

At 7:30 am local time on 19 March, Gaddafi's forces began artillery shelling the city. At around 9:00 am local time they entered the city from west and south with tanks.[14] Rebel armoured units engaged the initial loyalist armoured column at around 10:00 AM[15] Twelve T-72 tanks spearheaded the main thrust into the city, and by 10:30 AM, it seemed the Benghazi was in danger of falling to Pro Gaddafi forces. A rebel tank, aging and rusted, opened fire on the lead pro Gaddafi tank, damaging it and forced its occupants to abandon the vehicle. The tanks behind the lead vehicle all began a withdrawal from the area, under rebel fire, and retreated apparently to the city limits.[16]

By 2:30 pm local time the opposition fighters had repelled the first wave of loyalist forces out of the city. During the daytime battles, a rebel MiG-23 crashed to the ground in the outskirts of Benghazi.[17] The pilot, Colonel Mohammed Mbarak al-Okaili,[17] remained in the plane until moments before the crash before ejecting but was reported not to have survived the crash.[18] The cause of the crash was unclear, but may have been a catastrophic engine failure or friendly fire from rebel air-defences that had mistaken it for a loyalist plane.[6] This prompted rebels to use loudspeakers, mainly from mosques, urging not to "attack the planes – these are ours".[19]

France intervenes, loyalists retreat

At around 4:00 pm local time, French fighter jets entered Libyan airspace and flew over Benghazi, conducting aerial reconnaissance missions and preparing to intervene.[14] Then, at 4:45 pm, coalition intervention began as a French fighter jet fired on and destroyed several loyalist armored vehicles.[14] Later, Al Jazeera reported that French fighter jets had destroyed at least four of the regime's force's tanks; however, this was not confirmed by France.[20]

According to Al Jazeera, some citizens of Benghazi were leaving the city and moving eastwards to other anti-Gaddafi held towns. New reports from Al Jazeera/Pentagon relations told that American and British warships had launched cruise missiles at Libyan airfields, in a multi-phase operation called Odyssey Dawn. After that, the US planned to focus on the skirmishes on the ground.

On the morning of the next day, air attacks were conducted against a loyalist tank column from 4:00AM for two hours. It was confirmed by a Reuters reporter that at least seven tanks and two armored personnel carriers were destroyed in the French air strikes.[11][21]

Admiral Mullen of the United States announced on 20 March, that the international coalition had stopped the regime's progression on Benghazi.[13] Statements made by NTC officials and some news analysts have said that while coalition airstrikes helped, the regime's attack was actually halted by rebel fighters, notably by those under the command of General Abdul Fatah Younis.

References

  1. ↑ "UN clears way for Libyan no-fly zone". ABC News. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  2. ↑ "French strikes destroy tanks near Benghazi". Euronews. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  3. ↑ "Battle for control rages in Libya". Al Jazeera. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "Libye : "une vingtaine d'appareils" engagés" [Libya: "twenty units" engaged]. Europe 1 (in French). Agence France-Presse. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  5. ↑ 850 total killed in Benghazi, of which 589 died in other incidents, Casualties of the 2011 Libyan civil war#Timeline of reported deaths per event leaving 261 dead during the second battle
  6. 1 2 Fahy, Natalie; Mitchell, Gary (20 March 2011). "Britain Fires Missiles At Libyan Targets". Sky News. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  7. ↑ 2 mercenary infiltrators killed, 9 -12 killed in street fighting, 16 killed in tank column , total of 27-30 reported killed
  8. ↑ "A Gadhafi soldier speaks". CNN. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  9. ↑ "U.S. official: Gadhafi's momentum stopped". CNN. Tripoli. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Photo Gallery: The bombardment of Libya". Der Spiegel. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  11. 1 2 Abbas, Mohammed (20 March 2011). "Remains of Gaddafi's force smolders near Benghazi". Reuters. Benghazi and Ajdabiya Road. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  12. 1 2 Abbas, Mohammed (19 March 2011). "Rebels say they repulse Gaddafi attack on Benghazi". Reuters Africa. Benghazi. Reuters. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  13. 1 2 "Libya Live Blog - March 20". Al Jazeera. 20 March 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  14. 1 2 3 "Libya Live Blog - March 19". Al Jazeera. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  15. ↑ "Libya: Benghazi about to fall... then came the planes". The Daily Telegraph. London. 20 March 2011.
  16. ↑ Jones, Barbara; McIlgorm, Ian (20 March 2011). "The Battle of Benghazi: City seemed lost to Gaddafi forces but was retaken by rebels". Daily Mail. London.
  17. 1 2 Baz, Patrick (26 June 2011). The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/2011/06/26/AG1uMMmH_photo.html. Retrieved 23 August 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ↑ "Gaddafi forces approach Benghazi". Al Jazeera. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  19. ↑ Jones, Barbara; McIlgorm, Ian (20 March 2011). "The Battle of Benghazi: City seemed lost to Gaddafi forces but was retaken by rebels". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  20. ↑ "French jets attack Gaddafi targets". Al Jazeera. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  21. ↑ Vanden Brook, Tommy (19 March 2011). "Gadhafi promises 'long war' after allies strike Libya". USA Today. The Associated Press. Retrieved 27 January 2012.

Coordinates: 32°07′N 20°04′E / 32.117°N 20.067°E / 32.117; 20.067

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