Battle of Brega–Ajdabiya road

Second Battle of Ajdabiya
Part of 2011 Libyan civil war
Date 8 April 2011 – Location Ajdabiya, Libya Result Ongoing Pro-Gaddafi forces take control of the city's western gate Small guerrilla-style units of pro-Gaddafi forces enter the city
Belligerents
Anti-Gaddafi forces Libyan People's Army Free Libyan Air Force	Gaddafi Loyalists Libyan Army Paramilitary forces
Commanders and leaders
Khalifa Belqasim Haftar Abdul Fatah Younis	Unknown
Strength
Several hundred fighters UNSC Resolution 1973 forces NATO command	Several hundred, 50 pickups confirmed
Casualties and losses
18 killed, 15 wounded, 1 attack helicopter, possibly aHind and 2 Chinook transport helicopters* shot down	20-24 killed, 2 captured 6-13 tanks destroyed in air-strikes (NATO claim)
*No independent confirmation of the claim by the government to have shot down the two Chinooks, however, rebels confirmed the previous day that they had sent two helicopters into battle

The Second Battle of Ajdabiya is a battle during the Libyan Civil War between forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and rebel forces of the Libyan opposition for control of the town of Ajdabiya.

Background

On 30 March, following a government counter-offensive, loyalist forces took control of the town of Brega, just west of Ajdabiya. Rebels attempted a counter-attack to take back the town. For eight days, loyalists and rebels battled for control of Brega. In the end, government troops repelled numereous rebel attacks on the city and managed to push the rebels back to Ajdabiya by 7 April. Following the rebel retreat, government troops were preparing for an attack on the city, which is a gateway to the rebel capital of Benghazi.

The Battle

Shelling of the city starts

By 8 April, most civilians had left Ajdabiya, but rebels regrouped in the city which was still in rebel hands, after their forces fled in panic to several different directions in Ajdabiya to make sure that they were not surrounded following a swift government push down the road from Brega using artillery the previous day. During the day, the rebels sent out a scouting party to verify government troop positions which caused a firefight in which 6 rebels were wounded before they pulled back to Ajdabiya. Later, the loyalists hit the main rebel checkpoint at the western gate of the town with mortar fire which caused the opposition forces to temporarily retreat from the gate to the city center, seven kilometers away. By evening, pro-Gaddafi forces were 11–12 miles from Ajdabiya and once again at its gates, less than two weeks after previously retreating from the town. The British MoD claimed to had destroyed two loyalist tanks in air-strikes during the day near the city.

Loyalist troops surge into Ajdabiya

On 9 April, rebel forces attempted to go back to Brega but only got to the University before having to pull back due to intense shelling. After the rebel retreat, loyalist artillery shelled Ajdabiya, most notably the city's western gate for 30 minutes. Pro-Gaddafi forces had attacked the city from the north, west and south. They had moved through the southern desert overnight to within striking distance of the city. The bombardment killed three rebels before it dropped off after what appeared to be a NATO air-strike. Later however, NATO stated they did not conduct any air-strikes in the vicinity of Ajdabiya during the day. Following the alleged air-strike, government troops pushed into Ajdabiya and spread out across the city, avoiding NATO planes and making it impossible for the pilots to know who to hit. Three hours of heavy street fighting started and eventually the rebels were pushed out to the city's outskirts and appeared to have all but lost the town once again. The fighting at one point came dangerously close to the city's hospital with gunfire being heard several streets away and shells landing nearby. The rebels stated that government forces were aided by sympathizers within Ajdabiya. During the day, a rebel attack helicopter was spotted flying over the city, in defiance of the UN no-fly zone. It was later reported to have been shot down, but the source of the fire that brought it down was unclear. At sunset, some rebel reinforcements reached the town. The rebels started re-entering the town via the eastern entrance and claimed to be re-establishing control. Smaller loyalist units were still roaming the western parts of the city and government troops were in firm control of the city's western gate. As night fell, the fighting started up again with street battles raging for control of the city's main street, Istanbul Street. According to Al Jazeera, loyalists were reported to be in control of the western part of the town while the rebels were in the city center. There were also reports of fighting for the southern part of the town, while rebels were holding their positions in the northern and eastern part.

Continued loyalist push

On 10 April, street fighting continued with loyalist forces managing to push closer to the city center. The government claimed that loyalist forces had shot down two rebel Chinook helicopters who were in violation of the UN resolution 1973 relating to the no-fly zone. There was no independent confirmation of the claim. However, a rebel spokesman confirmed the previous day that the rebels had sent two helicopters from Tobruk to assist in the battle for the city. NATO claimed to have hit 11 tanks in the early part of the day outside Ajdabiya. A Reuters correspondent saw 15 charred corpses of Gaddafi's forces near six destroyed armored vehicles. Later, the rebels claimed, and evidently Al Jazeera confirmed, that the NATO attacks helped them push out the loyalists from the city. However, by the evening, shelling from the west of the town was still being heard.