The Battle of Sirte took place on January 6, 2020 during the

Second Libyan Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Second Libyan Civil War , partof = the Arab Winter, Libyan Crisis, Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, War on terror, and Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict , image ...

. The

Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; ar, الجيش الوطني الليبي, ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii'') is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa ...

of Marshal

Khalifa Haftar Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar ( ar, خليفة بلقاسم حفتر, Ḵalīfa Bilqāsim Ḥaftar; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LN ...

took the city from the forces of the Fayez el-Sarraj Government.

Background

In 2011, during the

First Libyan Civil War The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Libya ...

, Sirte formed the last stronghold of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who died there on October 20.Frédéric Bobin
La prise de Syrte est une étape majeure dans l’offensive du maréchal Haftar en Libye
''Le Monde'', 7 janvier 2020. In 2015, during the Second Libyan Civil War, the city fell into the hands of the jihadists of

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

. It was taken in December 2016 by the forces of the

Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord ( ar, حكومة الوفاق الوطني) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. ...

(GNA), after a six-month battle and more than 700 dead from the Misrata Brigades. After the defeat of Islamic State, Sirte was controlled by the Misrata Brigades, a group within the Al-Bounyan Al-Marsous coalition, and by Brigade 604, a Madkhalist Salafist militia. All of these troops are assembled within the "Sirte Protection Force." Brigade 604 claimed not to take sides between Sarraj and Haftar,Frederic Wehrey
Quiet No More?
'' Carnegie Endowment for International Peace'', 13 octobre 2016. its declared enemies being the Muslim Brotherhood and the jihadist

Salafists The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...

, however most of its fighters are Ferjani, the tribe of Field Marshal Haftar. Also in 2019,

Rabee al-Madkhali Rabīʿ bin Hādī ʿUmayr al Madkhalī ( ar, ربيع بن هادي عمير المدخلي), is a former head of the Sunnah Studies Department at the Islamic University of Madinah. He is a Salafi Muslim scholar and the founder of Madkhalism ...

called on his supporters to support Haftar.Laurent Lagneau
Libye : Les troupes du maréchal Haftar s’emparent Syrte, grâce au ralliement d’une milice salafiste
''Zone militaire Opex360.com '', 7 janvier 2020. Sirte and its region are mainly populated by two tribes: the

Qadhadhfa The Qadhadhfa (also ''al-Qaddafa'', ''Gaddadfa'', ''Qaddadfa'', ''Gaddafa''; ar, القذاذفـة) is one of the Arab Ashraf tribes in Libya, living in the Sirte District in present-day northwestern Libya. They are traditionally counted among ...

- the tribe of Muammar Gadhafi - and the Warfalla, considered to be faithful to the memory of the

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Co ...

Battle

On January 4, 2020, the forces of the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Marshal Khalifa Haftar began a sudden attack on the city of Sirte. Ghardabiya Airport, south of the city, was captured and its defenders surrendered.Célian Macé
Libye : Haftar annonce la prise de Syrte
''Libération'', 6 janvier 2020.Libye: prise surprise de Syrte par les forces de Khalifa Haftar
''RFI'', 6 janvier 2020. Soldiers of the LNA then entered the city through five axes to the south and east. Special forces seized the port from the sea. The 604 Brigade then defected and attacked the Misrata Brigades on their rear. Disorganized, the latter retreated and abandoned the city. After only three hours of fighting, Sirte thus passed into the hands of the LNA forces, which faced only weak resistance. Haftar's soldiers were greeted with enthusiasm by locals waving posters bearing the likeness of Gaddafi and green flags of the

. The Libyan National Army declared that "Sirte has been totally liberated (...) from terrorist groups." LNA spokesman General Ahmed al-Mesmari said the offensive was the subject of "careful preparation which lasted for months," with regular air raids against the "Sirte Protection Forces."

Aftermath

With the capture of Sirte, LNA forces looked next to the city of Misrata, located 250 kilometers to the northwest, while their brigades actively participated in the

2019–20 Western Libya campaign The Western Libya campaign was a military campaign initiated on 4 April 2019 by the Operation Flood of Dignity ( ar, عملية طوفان الكرامة) of the Libyan National Army, which represents the Libyan House of Representatives, to cap ...

References

{{reflist 2020 in Libya January 2020 events in Africa Military operations of the Second Libyan Civil War Battles in 2020 Sirte