Zawiya, officially Zawia, is a city in northwestern Libya, situated on the Libyan coastline of the Mediterranean Sea about 45 km (28 mi) west of Tripoli, in the historic region of Tripolitania. Zawiya is the capital of the Zawiya District.
The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and foreign supported groups seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Libyan Revolution, also known as the 17 February Revolution. The war was preceded by protests in Zawiya on 8 August 2009 and finally ignited by protests in Benghazi beginning on Tuesday, 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security forces that fired on the crowd. The protests escalated into a rebellion that spread across the country, with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing an interim governing body, the National Transitional Council.
The 2011 Tripoli clashes were a series of confrontations between Libyan anti-government demonstrators and forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the capital city of Tripoli at the beginning of the Libyan Civil War. During the early days of the uprising, there was significant unrest in the city, but the city remained under the control of the government.
The Libyan Civil War began on 17 February 2011 as a civil protest and later evolved into a widespread uprising. By mid-August, anti-Gaddafi forces effectively supported by a NATO-led international coalition were ascendant in Tripolitania, breaking out of the restive Nafusa Mountains in the south to mount an offensive toward the coast and advancing from Misrata on loyalist-held cities and villages from the north and east.
The Khamis Brigade, formally the 32nd Reinforced Brigade of the Armed People, was a regime security brigade of the Libyan Armed Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the official leader of Libya from 1969 until 2011. The 32nd Brigade was commanded by Gaddafi's youngest son, Khamis Gaddafi and was called "the most well-trained and well-equipped force in the Libyan military" and "the most important military and security elements of the regime" in leaked U.S. memos.
Khamis Gaddafi was the seventh and youngest son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and the military commander in charge of the Khamis Brigade of the Libyan Army. He was part of his father's inner circle. During the Libyan Civil War in 2011, he was a major target for opposition forces trying to overthrow his father.
The Battle of Ra's Lanuf was a two-phase battle in 2011 during the Libyan Civil War between forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and those loyal to the National Transitional Council. Both forces sought control of the town of Ra's Lanuf. The first phase followed two days after the First Battle of Brega which occurred in the town Brega, roughly 130 kilometres (81 mi) to the east of Ra's Lanuf. After conquering the town on 4 March, the rebels pushed further west to attack Sirte but they were driven back by government forces and on 11 March, government troops reconquered most of Ra's Lanuf.
The Battle of Gharyan was a battle in the Libyan Civil War between rebel anti-Gaddafi forces and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi for control of the Tripolitanian city of Gharyan located at the Eastern edge of the Nafusa Mountains.
The 2011 Nafusa Mountains campaign was a series of battles in the Libyan Civil War, fought between loyalist pro-Gaddafi forces and rebel anti-Gaddafi forces in the Nafusa Mountains and, at a later period, in the surrounding plains of western Libya. The mountain range is of strategic importance due to its close proximity to the capital of Tripoli. Along with the city of Misrata, the Nafusa Mountains region was one of the major rebel strongholds in Tripolitania.
The Zawiya skirmish began on 11 June 2011, when the National Liberation Army launched an attack into the coastal city of Zawiya, Libya in an attempt to recapture it from army units and militiamen loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. The attack was quickly crushed by the numerically superior and better-equipped loyalist forces, who had taken the city earlier in the Libyan Civil War after defeating rebel forces in a major battle that lasted from February to March 2011.
The Second Battle of Zawiya or Zawia was a battle in the Libyan Civil War between rebel anti-Gaddafi forces and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi for control of the Tripolitanian city of Zawia.
Mahdi al-Arabi, is a Libyan brigadier-general who served under the Libyan Armed Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. He was the deputy chief of staff of the Libyan army. During the 2011 Libyan civil war he was put in charge of helping to suppress protests, most notably in the Libyan city of Zawiya.
The Libyan Civil War began on 15 February 2011 as a chain of civil protests and later evolved into a widespread uprising against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. On 25 February, most of eastern Libya was reported to be under the control of protesters and rebel forces. Gaddafi remained in control of the cities of Tripoli, Sirte and Sabha. By 15 March, however, Gaddafi's forces had retaken more than half a dozen lost cities. Except for most of Cyrenaica and a few Tripolitania cities the majority of cities had returned to Gaddafi government control.
The timeline of the First Libyan Civil War begins on 15 February 2011 and ends on 20 October 2011. It begins with a series of peaceful protests, similar to others of the Arab Spring, later becoming a full-scale civil war between the forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi's government and the anti-Gaddafi forces. The conflict can roughly be divided into two periods before and after external military intervention authorized by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973.
The First Battle of Zawiya or Zawia was a battle during the Libyan Civil War between army units and militiamen loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi forces for control of the city of Zawia.
The 2011 Libyan rebel coastal offensive was a major rebel offensive of the Libyan Civil War. It was mounted by anti-Gaddafi forces with the intention of cutting off the supply route from Tunisia for pro-Gaddafi loyalist forces in Tripoli.
The Battle of Tripoli was a military confrontation in Tripoli, Libya, between loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi, the longtime leader of Libya, and the National Transitional Council, which was attempting to overthrow Gaddafi and take control of the capital. The battle began on 20 August 2011, six months after the Libyan Civil War started, with an uprising within the city; rebel forces outside the city planned an offensive to link up with elements within Tripoli, and eventually take control of the nation's capital.
The Libyan Civil War began on 17 February 2011 as a civil protest and later evolved into a widespread uprising. After a military intervention led by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States on 19 March turned the tide of the conflict at the Second Battle of Benghazi, anti-Gaddafi forces regrouped and established control over Misrata and most of the Nafusa Mountains in Tripolitania and much of the eastern region of Cyrenaica. In mid-May, they finally broke an extended siege of Misrata.
Gaddafi loyalism consists of sympathetic sentiment towards the overthrown government of Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed in October 2011. It has been responsible for some of the ongoing violence in Libya, though the degree of its involvement has been disputed in a number of instances.
The following lists events that happened during 2011 in Libya.
