Battle of Wazzin

Battle of Wazzin
Part of 2011 Nafusa Mountains Campaign
Date 21 April 2011 (First Phase) 24 April - 28 April 2011 (Second Phase) 29 April - May 2011 (Third Phase) 11 July - 29 July 2011 (Fourth phase) Location Wazzin, Libya and Dehiba, Tunisia Result Tunisian/Anti-Gaddafi rebel victory Rebel forces capture Wazzin on 21 April Loyalist forces retake the border crossing on 28 April Tenuous rebel hold on Wazzin by 4 May, fighting ongoing after Libyan Army clashes with Tunisian Army Loyalist forces occasionally shelled the crossing for months afterward
Belligerents
Anti-Gaddafi forces National Liberation Army	Armed forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	Tunisia Tunisian Army Tunisian Police
Commanders and leaders
Mustafa Abdul Jalil	Muammar Gaddafi	Fouad Mebazaa
Casualties and losses
Unknown (First phase) 3 killed (Second phase)* 11 killed (Third phase)	15 killed, 14 captured (First phase) 8 killed (Second phase)* 23 killed (Third phase)	1 civilian wounded Several houses destroyed or damaged Several soldiers killed or injured in border incursions
*Unconfirmed report that up to 20 people in total had been killed on 28 April

Tunisian/Anti-Gaddafi rebel victory

Anti-Gaddafi forces

 Tunisia

1 civilian wounded Several houses destroyed or damaged

The Battle of Wazzin was a conflict during the Libyan Civil War for the Libyan-Tunisian border town of Wazzin. Rebel forces made an initial victory, but it was short lived as Gaddafi's men re-occupied the town, only to lose it again to the rebels.

The battle spilled over into Tunisian territory on several occasions, prompting clashes with the Tunisian military (which had not explicitly taken a side in the battle).

The fighting turned Wazzin into something of a ghost town, valuable only as a strategic location.

In the early days of the war, towns in the Nafusa Mountains quickly joined the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, but soon came under heavy attack by loyalist forces. Wazzin was initially taken by rebels, but soon fell under the control of loyalists, cutting off this supply line to the rebel-held mountain towns. To relieve the military and humanitarian pressure on their besieged towns, the rebels fought to retake the crossing.

On 21 April, rebel forces assaulted Wazzin but were met with fierce resistance by loyalist soldiers. Their advances were initially slow but eventually they overwhelmed Gaddafi's men, taking the town of Wazzin before swiftly capturing the crossing itself, causing Gaddafi's men to be trapped in between the Tunisian border and the advancing rebels. In the end, 105 loyalist soldiers retreated into Tunisia where they surrendered to Tunisian officials.

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Wikipedia