Battle of Bin Jawad

Battle of Bin Jawad
Part of Libyan Civil War
Date 6 March 2011 Location Bin Jawad, Libya Result Decisive pro-Gaddafi victory
Belligerents
Anti-Gaddafi forces National Liberation Army	Armed forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Commanders and leaders
Abdul Fatah Younis	Unknown
Strength
500-1,000	1,500
Casualties and losses
12-60 killed 700 missing* 60 wounded	at least 1 killed 1 helicopter shot down
*170 of the 700 missing were found in a mass grave in December 2011

Coordinates: 30°48′3″N 18°5′11″E / 30.80083°N 18.08639°E / 30.80083; 18.08639

Anti-Gaddafi forces

The Battle of Bin Jawad was a battle in the Libyan Civil War between forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi forces for control of the town of Bin Jawad.

On 5 March 2011, following the Battle of Ra's Lanuf, rebel forces advanced along the Mediterranean coast and captured the town of Bin Jawad. They stopped during the night in the hamlet and planned to continue on to Sirte in the morning. During the evening, the opposition forces pulled back to Ra's Lanuf so they could prepare to continue their push to the west.

On the morning of 6 March, the rebels were on the move again and were passing through Bin Jawad, when they realized that loyalist forces had entered the town the previous night and took up positions in houses and on rooftops in preparation for an ambush. Government troops opened fire on the rebels with machine guns and RPG's and the opposition forces were soon in full retreat toward Ra's Lanuf. During the chaos, about 50 rebel fighters were left behind and trapped inside a Bin Jawad mosque. An opposition force in 20 pickup trucks tried to surge back into the city and rescue them, but was hit by artillery fire and one truck was destroyed. The rest of the convoy quickly retreated back to the edges of the town. Gaddafi's forces had retaken Bin Jawad.

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