This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(October 2015) |
Battle of Benina Airport | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Second Libyan Civil War | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Libyan National Army | Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Gen. Khalifa Haftar (Commander of Operation Dignity) Col. Wanis Abu Khamada (Commander of Libya's Special Forces) Brig. Gen. Saqr Geroushi (Commander of the Libyan Air Force) | Mohamed al-Zahawi † [1] (Ansar al-Sharia Leader) Wissam Ben Hamid (Libya Shield 1 Commander) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
5,000+ soldiers | 16,000+ fighters | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
82 soldiers killed | 700+ fighters killed | ||||||
20 civilians killed |
The Battle of Benina Airport was a battle of the Second Libyan Civil War which lasted from August 2014 until October 2014 between the Islamic Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries supported by extremist fundamental groups such as Ansar al-Sharia, who attempted to capture the airport, and the Libyan National Army led by General Khalifa Haftar.[ citation needed ]
In June and July 2014, armed militants going by the name of Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries began launching daily indiscriminate attacks on military bases and headquarters inside the city of Benghazi belonging to Libyan armed forces led by Khalifa Haftar, that later became known as the Libyan National Army, this forced the LNA to abandon all its headquarters withdraw from the city. The LNA units managed to regroup their forces on the suburb district of Benina (15km east of Benghazi) and took Benina Airport as its main headquarters for launching further operations and combating the militia groups inside Benghazi.[ citation needed ]
By the end of July 2014, forces of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries fully took over the city of Benghazi from the Libyan National Army and Mohamed al-Zahawi, leader of Ansar al-Sharia and a commander of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries declared Benghazi an "Islamic Emirate" and vowed to advance all his forces towards Benina and take Benina Airport from the Libyan National Army.[ citation needed ]
On the beginning of August, the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries moved towards Benina and launched a full-scale offensive on Benina Airport in an attempt to capture it from the Libyan National Army. However, they were immediately pushed back to Sidi Faraj bridge after forces of the Libyan National Army outside the airport fired back with heavy weaponry and heavily bombarded their positions, causing them to pull back. On mid August The Libyan National Army carried out heavy airstrikes on Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries forces positioned under Sidi Faraj bridge, killing hundreds of fighters. On beginning of September a suicide bomber managed to drive into the Libyan National Army under Benina bridge (few hundred meters away from the airport) and detonated, killing 12 soldiers and wounding others. After the suicide bombing the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries immediately attempted to advance to the airport once more, but failed again after soldiers positioned on Benina bridge and nearby buildings in the area began heavily firing on their positions, killing at least 60 fighters and forcing them to fall back to Sidi Faraj bridge. On the beginning of October the Libyan National Army began attacking Sidi Faraj bridge and the militia forces positioned there, heavy clashes took for a whole day and the Libyan National Army managed to take Sidi Faraj bridge, as a result of the operation, up to 150 militia fighters of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries were killed, meanwhile the Libyan National Army lost 17 soldiers. As the forces of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries began abandoning their positions near Benina Airport, the Libyan National Army began bombarding their last remaining pockets around the area with airstrikes just as the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries began to flee towards Benghazi, also killing their commander Mohamed al-Zahawi in the process. Despite many attempts by the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries to regroup and relaunch the attack on the airport again, all their attempts resulted in failure. By mid October the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries suffered a significant death toll among their ranks, including Mohamed al-Zahawi. This left their fighters leaderless in the middle of the battle and in a state of vacuum and disorder amongst their commanders and fighters. After learning of Zahawi's death, the Libyan National Army took advantage by launching heavier attacks on the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries killing hundreds more fighters, forcing the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries to fully abandon all their positions outside Benina and withdraw to the center of Benghazi. By 15 October the Libyan National Army advanced and managed to push back the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries to the center of the city of Benghazi, resulting in the beginning of the Battle of Benghazi (2015).[ citation needed ]
The Libyan Air Force is the branch of the Libyan Armed Forces responsible for aerial warfare. In 2010, before the Libyan Civil War, the Libyan Air Force personnel strength was estimated at 18,000, with an inventory of 374 combat-capable aircraft operating from 13 military airbases in Libya. Since the 2011 civil war and the ongoing conflict, multiple factions fighting in Libya have been in possession of military aircraft. As of 2019, the Libyan Air Force is nominally under the control of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord in Tripoli, though the rival Libyan National Army of Marshal Khalifa Haftar also has a significant air force. In 2021, the air force was under command of the new President of Libya, Mohamed al-Menfi that replaced Fayez al-Sarraj.
Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Omar Haftar is a Libyan politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). In 2015, he was appointed commander of the Armed forces loyal to the elected legislative body, the Libyan House of Representatives.
The Libyan National Army or the Libyan Arab Army is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar when he was nominated to the role on 2 March 2015 by the House of Representatives, consisting at the time of a ground force, an air force and a navy.
Ansar al-Sharia in Libya was an Al-Qaeda-aligned Salafi Jihadist militia group that advocated the implementation of Sharia law across Libya. Ansar al-Sharia came into being in 2011, during the Libyan Civil War. Until January 2015, it was led by its "Amir", Muhammad al-Zahawi. As part of its strategy, the organization targeted specific Libyan and American civilians for death and took part in the 2012 Benghazi attack. The group was designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Ansar al-Sharia is the Derna based branch of a larger Libyan group; the branch is headed by Abu Sufian bin Qumu. In 2011 bin Qumu became the leader of a band of fighters in his hometown of Derna during the 2011 Libyan civil war. The group was reported as disbanding itself following the U.S. Consulate attack in Benghazi however by late 2013 the group had re-emerged in the city as a branch of the Benghazi-based Ansar al-Sharia under the slogan "A step toward building the Islamic state".
The Libyan Special Forces (LSF), also known as the Al-Saiqa or Saiqa Special Forces and simply Saiqa or Al-Saiqa, are an elite Libyan National Army unit formed from a mixture of paratroopers, paramilitary forces and commandos. Prominent LSF commander Mahmoud al-Werfalli was indicted in 2017 and 2018 by the International Criminal Court for the war crime of murdering and ordering the murders of non-combatants, and was assassinated in 2021.
The Libyan civil war (2014–2020), also known as the Second Libyan Civil War, was a multilateral civil war which was fought in Libya among a number of armed groups, but mainly the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Government of National Accord (GNA), for six years from 2014 to 2020.
The Libya Shield Force is an armed organisation formed in 2012 out of anti-Gaddafi armed groups spread throughout Libya. The Libyan parliament designated much of the Libya Shield Force as terrorist and elements of the Libya Shield Force were identified as linked to al-Qaeda as early as 2012.
The Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries was a military coalition in Benghazi, Libya, composed of Islamist and jihadist militias, including Ansar al-Sharia, Libya Shield 1, and several other groups.
The following lists events that happened in 2014 in Libya.
The Libyan crisis is the current humanitarian crisis and political-military instability occurring in Libya, beginning with the Arab Spring protests of 2011, which led to two civil wars, foreign military intervention, and the ousting and death of Muammar Gaddafi. The first civil war's aftermath and proliferation of armed groups led to violence and instability across the country, which erupted into renewed civil war in 2014. The second war lasted until October 23, 2020, when all parties agreed to a permanent ceasefire and negotiations.
The Islamic State – Libya Province is a militant Islamist group active in Libya under three branches: Fezzan Province in the desert south, Cyrenaica Province in the east, and Tripolitania Province in the west. The branches were formed on 13 November 2014, following pledges of allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by militants in Libya.
The Battle of Benghazi was a battle of the Second Libyan Civil War. It was fought in May and July 2014 between the Islamic Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries and the Libyan National Army, and some residents which stood with the army in the city. The Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries led by Ansar al-Sharia (Libya) has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
This is a detailed timeline of the Libyan civil war (2014–2020) which lasted from 2014 to 2020.
The Battle of Benghazi (2014–2017) was a major battle of the Second Libyan Civil War that raged from October 2014 to December 2017, between the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya, and the Libyan National Army (LNA), and paramilitaries supporting the LNA in the city. The battle was a direct consequence of the failed Benina Airport Offensive by the Benghazi Revolutionaries and their allies, which allowed LNA forces to regroup and attack deep into Benghazi.
The Battle of Derna was a military campaign by the Libyan National Army to recapture the city of Derna from the Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna, which lasted from 7 May 2018 until 12 February 2019. The majority of military operations concluded by 28 June 2018, with the Libyan National Army declaring control of the entire city on that day, despite continued clashes in the old city. During the early stages of the battle, the Shura Council was dissolved and replaced with the Derna Protection Force, which continued operations after the LNA declared victory in June 2018, before surrendering at the end of the battle.
The siege of Derna was a military campaign by the Libyan National Army (LNA) to capture the city of Derna, which began after the end of the Derna campaign (2014–16). After besieging the city for 21 months, the LNA assaulted the city on 7 May 2018, beginning the 2018–2019 battle of Derna and ultimately capturing the city on 12 February 2019.
The Derna Protection Force, also known as the Derna Security Force, was a Libyan militia formed by Ateyah Al-Shaari on 11 May 2018, during the Libyan National Army (LNA) assault on Derna.
The Western Libya campaign was a military campaign initiated on 4 April 2019 by the Operation Flood of Dignity of the Libyan National Army (LNA), which represents the Libyan House of Representatives, to capture the western region of Libya and eventually the capital Tripoli held by the United Nations Security Council-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). The GNA regained control over all of Tripoli in June 2020 and the LNA forces withdrew from the capital, after fourteen months of fighting.
Wissam Bin Hamid was a Libyan jihadist militant and warload.