Second Battle of Benghazi

Second Battle of Benghazi
Part of 2011 Libyan uprising
File:Libyan MiG-23BN shoot down.jpg An anti-Gaddafi MiG-23 crashing to the ground during the Battle of Benghazi.
Date March 19, 2011 – March 20, 2011 Location Benghazi Result Anti-Gaddafi victory Pro-Gaddafi forces fail to recapture Benghazi
Belligerents
Anti-Gaddafi forces Libyan People's Army Free Libyan Air Force France French Air Force	Gaddafi Loyalists Military of Libya Paramilitary forces
Strength
8,000 defected soldiers 20 French fighter jets Thousands of volunteers and militia	Unknown
Casualties and losses
120 killed (including civilians), 1 MiG-23 shot down (possibly by friendly fire)	25-28 killed, 8-11 tanks and 2 APCs destroyed, 1 tank captured

The Second Battle of Benghazi was an armed battle as part of the 2011 Libyan uprising between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi and Anti-Gaddafi forces.

On March 18, Gaddafi's forces bypassed Ajdabiya by using the coastal roads instead of the roads directly linked with Ajdabiya, avoiding the need to capture Ajdabiya to proceed. By night the loyalist troops had positioned themselves within miles of Benghazi's two southern entry points, the western southern gate being called the west gate.

At 7:30AM local time on March 19, Gaddafi's forces began artillery shelling the city. At around 9:00AM local time they entered the city from west and south with tanks. However, by 2:30 PM local time the opposition fighters had repelled the first wave of loyalist forces out of the city.

During the daytime battles, a rebel fighter jet crashed to the ground in the outskirts of Benghazi. The pilot remained in the plane until moments before the crash before ejecting, possibly to ensure it did not crash into a populated area, but was reported not to have survived the crash. The cause of the crash is unclear, but may have been a catastrophic engine failure or friendly fire from rebel air-defences that had mistaken it for a loyalist plane.

At around 4:00PM local time, French fighter jets entered Libya airspace to enforce the United Nations Security Council Resolution, including Benghazi. The fighter jets were being used for reconnaissance, and this was the first step in establishing a no fly zone and military strike operation.

At 4:45PM local time, a French fighter jet fired the first shots of the foreign intervention, hitting a Gaddafi loyalist armored vehicle and destroying it. Later, Al Jazeera reported that it believed French fighter jets had destroyed four of the regime's force's tanks; however, this was not confirmed by France.

According to Al Jazeera, some citizens of Benghazi were leaving the city and moving northwest to other anti-Gaddafi held towns. New reports from Al Jazeera/Pentagon relations tell that American warships have launched cruise missiles at Libyan airfields, a multi-phase operation called Odyssey Dawn. After that, the US plans to focus on the skirmishes on the ground.

On the morning of the next day, air attacks were conducted against a loyalist tank coloumn from 5:30AM for two hours. It was confirmed by a Reuters reporter that seven tanks and two armored personel carriers were destroyed in the French air strikes.

Admiral Mullen of the United States announced on March 20, that they had stopped the regime's progression on Benghazi.

Notable deaths

• Mohammed Nabbous, journalist and founder of Libya Alhurra TV