The Battle of Misrata (Arabic: معركة مصراتة), also known as the Siege of Misrata, was a battle of the First Libyan Civil War for the control of Misrata. It was fought between troops loyal to the government of Muammar Gaddafi, and anti-Gaddafi rebels who held Misrata, the third largest city in Libya. Following the initial stages of the uprising, the Libyan government retook most towns in the west of the country, leaving Misrata the only major city under rebel control in Tripolitania. The city soon became the site of one of the war's major battles and the suffering of its citizens gained worldwide attention.
The intensity of fighting, along with its strategic and symbolic importance, led to the battle being called 'Libya's Stalingrad'. During the siege, the city saw very heavy fighting, came under daily assaults and shelling, and was at times cut off from its seaport, leaving no escape route for Misrata's inhabitants. Following UN military intervention in the civil war, NATO declared that breaking the encirclement of the city was its top priority. It ranks as one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the entire war. In late April and early May, rebel counterattacks successfully retook the city, culminating in the fall of the airport and the nearby military airbase on 11 May.
The battle
Rebels capture the city; battle at the air base
Anti-government demonstrators numbering a few dozen began staging protests on 17 February (other reports indicate 19 February). Several protesters were arrested, triggering larger protests, which government forces responded to by opening fire on demonstrators. These confrontations soon escalated into general armed violence. By 23 February, the opposition had driven government forces out of Misrata, and were in full control of the city. Six to 14 protesters were killed in the clashes, and another 200 wounded.
On 24 February, Gaddafi loyalists armed with rocket-propelled grenades and mortars fired at a group of opposition fighters guarding the airport. As the fighting began, officers from an air force school near the airport mutinied and helped the opposition attack an adjacent military air base. The officers then disabled fighter jets at the base to prevent them from being used against the uprising. The rebels also used a captured ZPU-4 anti-aircraft gun against the loyalists.
On the evening of the second day of the battle, Gaddafi's forces, supported by tanks, succeeded in retaking part of the military air base. Fighting at the base continued until after midnight, leaving 22 dead. At least one loyalist tank was destroyed during the two days of fighting at the airport.
On 28 February, it was reported that opposition forces had shot down and captured the crew of a government helicopter which had been attacking the rebel-held radio station. Also, a new attempt by government troops to advance on the air base was repelled by opposition fighters. No casualties occurred during the fighting, although eight loyalist soldiers were captured.
On 3 March, two Libyan Red Crescent medics were wounded by loyalist fire while trying to retrieve the body of a man killed near a government base three days earlier. It was reported that the rebels were running low on food and ammunition, and that government troops had secured the air base and the military air academy on the outskirts of Misrata.
Rebel ambush in the city center
6 March
On 6 March, pro-Gaddafi forces attempted to retake Misrata, and sent soldiers supported by seven tanks and 25 technicals into the city. The rebels allowed the government forces to enter the city, so that they could be surrounded and captured. Three tanks penetrated to the city center and became trapped as fighting began.
According to local witnesses, the rebels fended off the attack, with twenty-one rebels and civilians killed, including a 3-year-old boy. Twenty-two of Gaddafi's soldiers were reported killed, and another 20 captured.
Khamis Brigade arrives; inter-loyalist fighting
12–13 March
On 12 March a new government attack got underway, and loyalist forces were reported to be 10–15 kilometers from the city center. The attack was led by the Khamis Brigade, which had won the First Battle of Zawiya two days earlier, but their advance came to a halt when 32 soldiers, one of them reportedly a general, broke off from the rest of the force and joined the rebels in the city.
The next day, government tanks were still advancing, fighting rebels on the outskirts of the city. Tank shells had struck inside the city, hitting a mosque and an apartment building.
Artillery and tank attacks
On 16 March, artillery pounded Misrata as a new round of fighting commenced. The rebels claimed to have destroyed 16 loyalist tanks and captured 20 government soldiers. None of the claims were independently confirmed. Eighteen opposition members were killed and 20 wounded during the clashes, while doctors in Misrata reported that 60–80 government soldiers had been killed in the day's fighting.
On the night of 17 March, government troops began an artillery and tank attack which continued well into the next day. On 18 March a cease-fire was announced by the government, following the United Nations Security council resolution on authorisation for military intervention by foreign countries; the attack on Misrata, however, continued for at least another four hours. It was not known if this was deliberate, or if orders had simply not gotten to the troops in the city yet. By the time the cease-fire was ordered, government troops had already breached rebel defenses on the outskirts of the city and were in Misrata itself, with, according to the rebels, tanks firing randomly and troops conducting house-to-house searches for opposition fighters. Video from the city itself showed heavily damaged streets and at least six destroyed tanks and armored personnel carriers.
City is breached and fighting continues
On the morning of 19 March, loyalist sniper and artillery fire left nine dead in the city. The same day, Tomahawk cruise missiles launched by US and British naval vessels struck a government-held air base and military academy outside the city, causing an undetermined amount of damage.
On 20 March, Gaddafi's armour drove into the city center, and heavy fighting continued throughout the day. Four loyalist tanks were seen patrolling the city.
On 21 March 40 people were reportedly killed and 300 wounded by gunfire and artillery shelling as loyalist forces attempted to clear the city of opposition forces. The city's main road, Tripoli Street, leading from the highway on the southwestern outskirts to the city center, was secured by 200 government troops supported by three tanks. The center of the city was cleared of rebel forces. During the day, unarmed rebel supporters attempted to stage a demonstration, but were fired upon as soon as they approached government troops. That night, a government spokesperson stated that the city was under control of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. There was no independent confirmation, and the claim was denied by an opposition spokesperson in Misrata. Video from fighting during the previous days showed six destroyed government tanks and armored personnel carriers.
On 22 March, artillery shelling and sniper fire in Misrata continued. In the earlier hours of the day, five people, including four children, were killed by an artillery round as they tried leaving their home. Gaddafi's forces concentrated around an abandoned hospital which they used as a base. Overnight, Gaddafi's forces managed to capture the main hospital in Misrata, and positioned snipers on top of it. The opposition requested a hospital ship to be sent to Misrata's port, the only part of the city still in firm rebel control, to treat the injured, as the injured no longer had a place to go.
Coalition air-strikes; tanks continue to advance
In the early hours of 23 March, coalition forces began launching air-strikes against pro-Gaddafi forces in and around Misrata. According to witnesses, Gaddafi's forces stopped shelling the city after two NATO air-strikes. Opposition members claimed that the strikes destroyed numerous loyalist tanks near the captured hospital and on the outskirts of the city; the next day, however, witnesses confirmed that only tanks on the outskirts had been bombed, the damage being unknown, while those in the city had not been hit.
Gaddafi's forces left the main hospital, then returned in the evening with tanks and artillery weapons, and began bombarding the surrounding area. Troops were said to be advancing on the hospital where most of the opposition wounded were being treated. That night, the regime sent warships to capture Misrata's port.
The next day there were unconfirmed reports that the warships had retreated from the port, which had then been re-secured by the rebels. The same day, a Libyan Air Force Soko G-2 Galeb was destroyed by French fighter jets at an air base near Misrata. A French armed forces spokesman confirmed that the plane had been destroyed by an AASM air-to-ground missile just after it had landed. Rebels in Misrata also claimed to have killed 30 pro-Gaddafi snipers, and to have reached the town center.
On 25 March the city was hit by more shelling. That evening, about a dozen loyalist tanks appeared on Tripoli Street and fired on rebel positions before retreating to avoid Coalition planes. There was ongoing confusion as to whether the port had been recaptured by the rebels or was still being blocked by loyalist ships.
On 26 March, Gaddafi's forces launched a large-scale attack on Misrata, bombarding the city with mortars and tanks and allegedly sending in foreign mercenaries. Witnesses described the situation as "very, very dire". As on previous days, firing stopped and the tanks pulled back to cover when coalition planes appeared overhead. The French Ministry of Defense claimed that their fighters destroyed five G-2 Galeb ground attack jets and two Mi-35 attack helicopters at the Misrata airbase while they were preparing to take part in offensive operations against rebels in the city.
Gaddafi's forces resumed artillery, mortar, and tank shelling of the city the next day, 27 March. Nine people were reported killed and 23 wounded as loyalist troops advanced on the city from the west. In the evening, as previously, the fighting stopped so loyalist forces could avoid coalition air-strikes.
On 28 March, at noon, Gaddafi's forces began bombarding the city again. Later, a rebel source confirmed that loyalist troops had gained control of part of the city, effectively dividing Misrata into government-held and rebel-held areas. During the fighting, rebels damaged two loyalist tanks. Just before evening, international journalists arriving from Tripoli confirmed that Misrata's suburbs, including Tripoli Street, were under government control. A military officer stated that there were still about 100 rebels left, and that fighting was concentrated around the center of the town. CNN's Nic Robertson reported that the streets of Misrata were largely empty, except for about 100 pro-Gaddafi supporters demonstrating, and a strong military presence. Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught said that the furthest point in Misrata that she and other international journalists were taken to was the south side of Tripoli Street, one and a half miles from the city's center, from where gunfire could be heard. The British Ministry of Defense claimed that their planes hit and destroyed two loyalist tanks and two armored vehicles near the city.
On 29 March, loyalist forces, including the Khamis Brigade, swept through the city, securing the western and northwestern parts. Witnesses reported that government troops were forcing people from their homes en masse. A member of the rebel command in the city claimed that loyalist forces were killing and wounding civilians indiscriminately. During the night, heavy street fighting occurred in the city's Az-Zawaabi district, in which nine rebels were killed and five wounded.
Battles for the city center and port
On 30 March a CNN news crew managed to get into Misrata, and recorded scenes of heavy fighting in the city. Their report showed heavily damaged streets, a destroyed government armored personnel carrier, a government tank being hit by an RPG, and wounded civilians in the main hospital.
On 31 March a local doctor, who was a member of the opposition, claimed that Gaddafi's forces only retained control of Tripoli Street; this claim, however, could not be confirmed. Gaddafi forces were using artillery to bombard Misrata, according to a rebel spokesman, who further stated that 20 civilians had been killed the previous day when houses were hit by shells.