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 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.
The National Liberation Army, formerly known as the Free Libyan Army, was a Libyan military organisation affiliated with the National Transitional Council, which was constituted during the First Libyan Civil War by defected military members and civilian volunteers, in order to engage in battle against both remaining members of the Libyan Armed Forces and paramilitia loyal to the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. It had prepared for some time in portions of Eastern Libya controlled by the anti-Gaddafi forces for eventual full-on combat in Western Libya against pro-Gaddafi militants, training many men before beginning to go on the offensive. They have battled for control of Benghazi, Misrata, Brega, Ajdabiya, Zawiya and Ra's Lanuf as well as several towns in the Nafusa Mountains. They finally began the Battle for Tripoli in August 2011 when they attacked from the west of the city, as well as fomenting an internal uprising on 20 August.
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 Fourth Battle of Brega was a battle during the Libyan Civil War between forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and forces of the Libyan opposition for control of the strategic town of Brega and its oil port.
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.
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 Battle of Tawergha was a military engagement of the Libyan Civil War that began on 11 August 2011 when anti-Gaddafi forces based in Misrata advanced southeast along the road to Sirte in the early morning and attacked Libyan Army positions in the town of Tawergha. It ended on 13 August when rebel troops, after capturing the town, cleared it of snipers and artillery positions threatening Misrata.
The Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade or Free Tripoli Guardian was a unit of the National Liberation Army of Libya created during the Libyan Civil War that merged into the Tripoli Protection Force. Originally formed in April 2011 in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, it later relocated to the Nafusa Mountains, then the closest frontline to Tripoli, before advancing into the city itself in August.
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 2011 Ras Ajdir clashes were a series of skirmishes between rebel anti-Gaddafi forces and loyalist pro-Gaddafi forces for an important Libya–Tunisia border post in Libya's extreme northwest.
The Second Gulf of Sidra offensive was a military operation in the Libyan Civil War conducted by rebel anti-Gaddafi forces in August and September 2011 to take control of towns along the Gulf of Sidra in an effort to surround Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, which was held by pro-Gaddafi forces. It ended on 20 October, when Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim Gaddafi were killed along with former defense minister, Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr. The Gaddafi loyalists in the area were finally defeated when NTC fighters captured Sirte.
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.
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya