The First Battle of Benghazi occurred as part of the 2011 Libyan civil war

2011 Libyan civil war

The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...

 between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...

 and anti-Gaddafi forces

Anti-Gaddafi forces

The anti-Gaddafi forces were Libyan groups that opposed and militarily defeated the government of Muammar Gaddafi, killing him in the process. These opposition forces included organised and armed militia groups, participants in the 2011 Libyan civil war, Libyan diplomats who switched their...

, with clashes occurring in Benghazi

Benghazi

Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...

, Bayda and Derna. In Benghazi itself most of the fighting occurred during a siege of the government-controlled Katiba compound.

Beginning

The fighting in Benghazi started on 17 February, after two days of protests in the city. Security forces opened fire on protesters, killing 14. The next day, a funeral procession for one of those killed passed the Katiba compound. Accounts differ on whether mourners began throwing stones first or the soldiers from Katiba opened fire without provocation. In the end, another 24 people from the opposition forces were killed. Following the massacre, two policemen, who were accused of shooting the protestors, were hanged by the opposition. Police and army personnel later withdrew from the city after being overwhelmed by protesters. Some army personnel joined the protesters and helped them seize the local state-controlled radio station. In Bayda, unconfirmed reports indicated that local police and riot control units joined the protesters. Two days earlier, on 16 February, it was also reported that Islamist gunmen, with the help of a defecting army colonel, stormed an arms depot in Derna and seized 250 weapons and an assortment of 70 military vehicles. During the raid four soldiers were killed and 16 wounded. By the end of 18 February, the only place that still housed a significant number of Gaddafi loyalists in Benghazi was the Katiba compound.
On 19 February, another funeral

Funeral

A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...

 procession passed the Katiba compound en route to the cemetery

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 in an act of defiance and were again fired upon by Gaddafi loyalists in the compound. By this time, some 325 mercenaries from southern Africa were flown into Benghazi and other towns in the east to help restore order. During 18 and 19 February, there were major retaliatory attacks by the opposition forces against the mercenaries. 50 African mercenaries were executed by the protesters in Bayda. Some died when protestors burned down the police station in which they locked them up and 15 were lynched in front of the courthouse in Bayda.

Following the second attack on a funeral, opposition forces commandeered bulldozer

Bulldozer

A bulldozer is a crawler equipped with a substantial metal plate used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction work and typically equipped at the rear with a claw-like device to loosen densely-compacted materials.Bulldozers can be found on a wide range of sites,...

s and tried to breach the walls of the Katiba compound, often retreating under heavy fire. As the fighting continued, a mob attacked a local army base on the outskirts of Benghazi and forced the soldiers to give up their weapons, including three small tanks. Opposition members then rammed those tanks into the Katiba compound's walls. Days later, the burned hulks of the armored vehicles could still be seen, stuck halfway into the breaches they made.

End

The fighting stopped on the morning of 20 February. Another 30 people were killed during the previous 24 hours of fighting. A third funeral procession passed the Katiba compound. Under the cover of the funeral, a suicide car-bomber attacked the compound's gates, blowing them up. Opposition fighters resumed their assault on the base, this time with reinforcements from Bayda and Derna. During the final attack on the compound 42 people were killed. In the afternoon, Libyan Interior Minister Abdul Fatah Younis

Abdul Fatah Younis

Abdul Fatah Younis , sometimes transliterated Fattah Younis or Fattah Younes or Fatah Younes, was a senior military officer in Libya. He held the rank of Major General and the post of Minister of Interior, but resigned on 22 February 2011 to defect to the rebel side in what was to become the 2011...

showed up with a special forces squad called the "Thunderbolt" to relieve the besieged barracks. Troops from his unit, based on the outskirts of town, arrived at the opposite side of the Katiba armed with machine guns and driving trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns. Two tanks under Younis's command followed. However, Younis defected to the opposition and granted safe passage to Gaddafi's loyalists out of the city. Gaddafi's troops evacuated but not before killing soldiers who refused to open fire on the opposition. Some 130 rebel soldiers were killed in Benghazi and Bayda.

Casualties

110-257 opposition members were killed in Benghazi. In addition, another 63 opposition members were killed in Bayda and 29 in Derna. Also, 130 rebelling soldiers were reported to be executed by government forces. An estimated total of 332-479 members of the opposition forces died during the fighting in Benghazi, Bayda and Derna. Another 1,932 were wounded. 111 soldiers loyal to Gaddafi were also killed. Of the 325 mercenaries sent to the east to quell the uprising's initial phase, it was reported that 50 were captured and executed by the opposition, and at least 236 were captured alive. The fate of the others was unknown.