First Battle of Benghazi

First Battle of Benghazi
Part of Libyan Civil War
A government revolutionary committee office after it was torched by demonstrators, in Benghazi's downtown.
Date 15–20 February 2011 Location Benghazi, Bayda, Derna, Libya Result Decisive Anti-Gaddafi victory Beginning of the Libyan Civil War Benghazi becomes a core of the Anti-Gaddafi forces
Belligerents
Anti-Gaddafi forces Defected army units Armed protesters	Armed forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Commanders and leaders
Abdul Fatah Younis (last day)	Al-Saadi Gaddafi
Strength
10,000	Khamis Brigade Fadheel Brigade Tariq Brigade 325 mercenaries
Casualties and losses
Benghazi: 110-257 killed, 9 missing Bayda: 63 killed Derna: 29 killed Rebel soldiers: 130 killed Total: 332-479 killed, 9 missing 3 T-54/55 tanks or BMPs destroyed	163 killed, 236 captured 3 T-54/55 tanks or BMPs destroyed

Decisive Anti-Gaddafi victory

Anti-Gaddafi forces

The First Battle of Benghazi occurred as part of the Libyan Civil War between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi forces in February 2011. The battle mainly took place in Benghazi, the second-largest city in Libya, with related clashes occurring in the nearby Cyrenaican cities of Bayda and Derna. In Benghazi itself most of the fighting occurred during a siege of the government-controlled Katiba compound.

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 protesters 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 were 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.

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