Yafran
| Yafran يفرن |
|
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
 Yafran
|
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| Coordinates: 32°03′46″N 12°31′36″E / 32.06278°N 12.52667°E | |
| Country |  Libya |
| Region | Tripolitania |
| District | Jabal al Gharbi |
| Elevation[1] | 678 m (2,224 ft) |
| Population (2011)[2] | |
| • Total | 13,939 |
| Time zone | UTC + 2 |
| Area code(s) | +218 421 |
Yafran /ˈjɑːfrən/ original name is "Ifran" in Amazigh language, (Arabic: يفرن Ifrin), also spelled Jefren, Yefren, Yifran, Yifrin, is an Amazigh town in northwestern Libya, in the Western Nafusa Mountains, and part of the Jabal al Gharbi District. It was historically a very important city. For example in the Ottoman era it was the capital of Jabal district (at that time there were 5 districts in Libya of which Jabal is one). In the time of resistance against Italian invasion in 1911, Jabal leadership was in Yafran head by Suleiman Al-Baruni who with other leaders of resistance establish the first republic in Arab League countries and second in Muslim countries. He brought telegraph service to Yafran (See the book Adventures in Tripoli by British doctor, Griffin). In the time of independence (Kingdom), Yafran was second city in Jabal after Gharyan and it was a municipality. Yafran still enjoys its "cosmopolitan" multicultural mosaic that built up in the history by having Amazigh, Arabs and subsaharan Africans; Muslims (Malikai and Ibadi) and Jews. Women have great contribution and Yafran had one of the earliest female schools in Libya and ones of first educated women in Libya. Before 2007, Yafran was the administrative seat of the Yafran District.[3]
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[edit] Libyan civil war
Yafran people, as in other cities of Libya, have demonstrated against Gaddafi. Subsequently, Yafran was exposed to bombardment and siege by Gaddafi forces. As of May 2011, Gaddafi's forces had shut down the water system and blocked food supplies[4] and held the western part of the town with some 500 rebels in the eastern section of Yafran still resisting.[5]
When Yafran fell to Gaddafi's forces with the centre of the town being used as a position for "government tanks, artillery guns and snipers". [6] On 2 June, FFs retook the city center and started to clear the area of Gaddafi's forces. [7] On 6 June, an on-site Reuters journalist reported that the pro-Gaddafi forces were nowhere to be seen in or around the town.[8]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Wolfram Alpha
- ^ World Gazetteer. "Libya: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population". http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1273372850&men=gcis&lng=en&des=gamelan&geo=-133&srt=dpnn&col=abcdefghimoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=&srt=pdnn. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- ^ " مدينةيفرن" ("Yafran District") Website of the General People's Committee of Libya, from Internet Archive dated 18 April 2006, in Arabic
- ^ People of Yafran, besieged by pro-Gaddafi forces, facing starvation | Libya TV
- ^ Libyan begs NATO to save his small town
- ^ Major Front Forms in Libya's Mountains - WSJ.com
- ^ Rebels in western Libya seize mountain towns in push toward Tripoli « Shabab Libya
- ^ Al Jazeera, Libya Live Blog, June 6
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- "Yafran, Libya", Falling Rain Genomics, Inc.
- "Yafran Map — Satellite Images of Yafran", Maplandia
Coordinates: 32°03′46″N 12°31′36″E / 32.0629°N 12.5267°E
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