Timeline Of The 2011 Libyan Civil War Before Military Intervention

The Libyan Civil War began on 15 February 2011 as a chain of civil protests and later evolved into a widespread uprising against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. On 25 February, most of eastern Libya was reported to be under the control of protesters and rebel forces. Gaddafi remained in control of the cities of Tripoli, Sirte and Sabha. By 15 March, however, Gaddafi's forces had retaken more than half a dozen lost cities. Except for most of Cyrenaica and a few Tripolitania cities (such as Misrata) the majority of cities had returned to Gaddafi government control.

On 17 March, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution which authorized member states "to take all necessary measures ... to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamhariya, including Benghazi, while excluding an occupation force". This began a new phase in the conflict.

Early phase (15–26 February)

15 February

*In the evening approximately 200 people began demonstrating in front of the police headquarters in Benghazi following the arrest of human rights activist Fathi Terbil. They were later joined by others, totaling between 500 and 600 protesters. The protest was broken up violently by police, causing as many as forty injuries among the protesters.
*In Bayda and Zintan, hundreds of protesters called for "the end of the regime" and set fire to police and security buildings. In Zintan, the protesters set up tents in the town centre.

16 February

*Protests continued in Benghazi, where hundreds of protesters gathered at Maydan al-Shajara before security services tried to disperse the crowd using water cannons. After clashes between the two groups, the police left. The protesters set fire to two cars and burnt down the headquarters of the traffic police. In the ensuing clashes with police six people died and three were injured. In Al-Quba, more than 400 protesters over a wide range of ages set fire to the police station. Protests were also reported in Derna and Zintan, though there were no injuries.
*Pro-government rallies of many dozens of Gaddafi supporters and Tripolitanian people also took place.
*Reportedly as a response to the demonstrations, Libya released 110 members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group from prison on 16 February.

17 February: Day of Revolt

*Libyans called for a "Day of Revolt." The National Conference for the Libyan Opposition stated that "all" groups opposed to Gaddafi both within Libya and in exile planned the protests in memory of the demonstrations in Benghazi on 17 February 2006 that were initially against the ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons, but which turned into protests against Gaddafi.
*In Benghazi, the government released thirty prisoners from jail, armed them and paid them to fight against protesters. Demonstrators claimed at the time that several people were killed by snipers and gunfire from helicopters. The ''Evening Standard'' and Al Jazeera estimated that fourteen people were killed. The latter reported that an eyewitness saw six unarmed protesters shot dead by police. The BBC News reported that "at least 15 people" were killed in the clashes.
*''Libya al-Youm (يوم)'' reported that four people were shot dead by sniper fire in Bayda and a Libyan human-rights group reported thirteen people had been killed. In Ajdabiya and Derna at least ten and six protesters were killed by police, respectively. Protests also took place across Tripoli and in Zintan, where a number of government buildings including a police station were set on fire.

18 February

*Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in front of the Benghazi courthouse. According to the BBC News, a "doctor at Benghazi's Jalla hospital" told them that he had "seen 15 bodies – all dead from gunshot wounds" by the time he left the hospital "in the early hours of '' he day'". Police and army personnel later withdrew from the city after being overwhelmed by protesters. Some army personnel also joined the protesters; they then seized the local radio station. In Bayda, unconfirmed reports indicated that the local police force and riot-control units joined the protesters. Two police officers who were accused of shooting protesters were hanged by protesters.
*According to a local activist, protesters in Bayda succeeded in capturing its military airbase, and then "executed 50 African mercenaries and two Libyan conspirators". He also claimed that other "conspirators were executed" in Derna by burning down a police station, where they were locked up in cells.
*The Libyan newspaper '' Quryna'' reported that about 1,000 non-political prisoners had escaped from a Benghazi prison. A security source told Agence France-Presse that four inmates were shot dead during a breakout attempt in Tripoli.
*The Libyan government initially restricted access to the Internet in Libya for several hours, but later imposed a more comprehensive and sustained blackout.

19 February

*Widespread protests continued for another day. Demonstrators in Benghazi had reportedly taken control of Benina International Airport early in the day.
*The opposition warned civilians of a massacre by the government, unless the international community applied pressure. Witnesses in Libya have reported helicopters firing into crowds of anti-government protesters. The army withdrew from the city of Bayda. Human Rights Watch and the Libyan newspaper '' Quryna'' said thousands of demonstrators had poured out onto the streets in Benghazi and other eastern cities on 18 February, a day after the clashes in which 49 people were killed, and that some protests were still continuing. Artillery, helicopter gunships and antiaircraft missile launchers were used to kill protesters. Security forces reportedly opened fire at a funeral for dead protesters in Benghazi, killing at least fifteen people and injuring scores more.
*A doctor from Benghazi's Al-Jalah Hospital said staff there had received fifteen bodies and were treating numerous people following the shootings at the funeral. "This is not a well-equipped hospital and these injuries come in waves," he said. "All are very serious injuries, involving the head, the chest and the abdomen. They are bullet injuries from high-velocity rifles." The hospital counted forty-four deaths in three days, and was struggling to treat the wounded. The residents of Benghazi told Al Jazeera that at least 200 people had died, while the Human Rights Watch put the countrywide death toll at a "conservative" 104 on 19 February.
*Anti-Gaddafi protests were also reported in Misrata, where thousands of people took part in peaceful protests. They were demonstrating against state brutality and censorship, rather than calling for a change in government.
*Both pro- and anti-government protests broke out in other major cities, including Bayda, Derna, Tobruk and Misrata.
*Several hundred government supporters and party activists took to the streets in large numbers, and security forces prevented large demonstrations against Gaddafi's government.
*According to figures compiled by Agence France-Presse from local sources, at least forty-one people had been killed since demonstrations first started on 15 February. The toll excludes two policemen, newspapers said, who had been hung in Bayda on 18 February. Human Rights Watch, citing phone interviews with hospital staff and eyewitnesses, said that security forces had killed more than eighty anti-Gaddafi protesters in eastern Libya. Opposition groups later put the number of dead at over 120. The residents of Benghazi told Al Jazeera that at least 200 people had died while Human Rights Watch put the countrywide death toll at a "conservative" 104. The security forces of Benghazi were in their barracks while the city was in a state of civil mutiny.
* Mohamed Abdulmalek, the chairman of the human rights group Libya Watch, commented that the delay of protests in the west was due to the heavy presence of Libya's State Security Forces and secret police were out there and "not because the people did not want to go out".
*Former UK Foreign Secretary and Chairman of the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee Sir Malcolm Rifkind told BBC News that the protests across the Middle East were resembling the anti-Communist/pro-democracy events in Eastern Europe of 1989. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "deeply concerned" by the "unacceptable violence" used against protesters.

20 February

*Protests escalated with residents also reporting small protests beginning in Tripoli, indicating a widening of the unrest from the eastern half of Libya into Gaddafi's center of power. Hospitals confirmed that they had run out of supplies and doctors estimated the death toll in Benghazi to be between 200 and 300. After the people of Benghazi beat back the police and captured several key military barracks local military brigades joined the protesters. By this time, protesters in Benghazi numbered in the tens of thousands, possibly in the hundreds of thousands. Reports also emerged of pro-Gaddafi militia by the Elfedeel Bu Omar compound "being butchered by angry mobs." Al Jazeera said that protesters were in control of the city as government security forces fled to the airport. Further military units were reported to have defected in order to protect protesters. Several senior Muslim clerics and tribal leaders from around Libya called for an end to the bloodshed by the government, and for the government to step down. A "spontaneous" protest occurred in Tripoli by night where the protesters quickly overran police. One tribal leader threatened to block oil exports.
*The Tuareg tribe in the south was said to have answered a call by the larger Warfalla tribe to take part in the protests. The Tuareg towns of Ghat and Ubari were also locations for violence, with members of the tribe reportedly attacking government buildings and police stations.
*Gaddafi's second son Saif al-Islam appeared on state television and said that the unrest "may cause civil war". He also said that Libya was different from its neighbours. He ended by warning, "We will fight to the last man and woman and bullet. We will not lose Libya. We will not let Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and BBC trick us". State-run '' Al-Shababiya'' was reportedly attacked in the evening following Saif al Islam's address.
*The United States Department of State, through the American Embassy, issued a travel warning to US citizens due to the continuing unrest in Libya. The European Union called on the government to refrain from using force and to answer the protesters' grievances.
*In the night, clashes escalated in Tripoli, with protesters trying to seize control of Green Square. Witnesses reported snipers firing into the crowds, and Gaddafi supporters driving around the square shooting and running demonstrators over. Protesters burned a police and security forces' station and the General People's Congress' building. Hospital mortuaries in Tripoli were reportedly overrun with bodies many having gunshot wounds to the head and chest. It is estimated that 600 to 700 people were killed.

21 February

*Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi called for a "general assembly" to discuss grievances.Al Jazeera. Breaking News.

*In Benghazi, protesters took control of the streets, looted weapons from the main security headquarters and seized the local radio station, starting their own broadcasts under the name Voice of Free Libya. Demonstrators also lowered the Libyan flag from above the main courthouse and replaced it with the flag of Libya's old monarchy. Libyan Air Force warplanes and attack helicopters launched airstrikes on protesters, reportedly targeting a funeral procession and a group of protesters trying to reach a military base. Two senior mutineering air force pilots flew their Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jets to Malta and requested political asylum after defying orders to bomb protesters. Two civilian helicopters also landed in Malta, carrying seven passengers who claimed to be French oil workers.
*Reports indicated the People's Hall in Tripoli, which serves as the meeting place for the General People's Congress, had been set on fire. There were also reports that the state-television building had been smashed up by protesters and that at least one Tripoli police station was burned down. Libyan Navy warships were reported to have begun bombardment of residential areas causing an unknown number of casualties. Banks and other government buildings were looted throughout the day. Demonstrators clashed with security forces, and heavy gunfire was heard throughout the city. At least sixty-one people were killed.
*Some people alleged that they were offered money to turn up for pro-Gaddafi rallies outside Libya. Within Libya, state-run television showed pro-Gaddafi rallies, though the international media doubted the authenticity of these protests as possibly having been staged.
*The Libyan Navy reportedly shelled demonstrators from the sea, and Gaddafi allegedly issued execution orders to soldiers refusing to fire on protesters.
*UK Foreign Secretary Hague said that he had received information that Gaddafi had left Libya and was travelling to Venezuela. Venezuelan government officials denied reports that Gaddafi had left Libya and was on a plane bound for Caracas. It was later reported that one of Gaddafi's sons arrived on Isla Margarita, Venezuela, around the time that Hague made his allegation.
*The BBC News reported that the Libyan Army was "fighting forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi, who appears to be struggling to hold on to power." A group of army officers also called upon their fellow soldiers to "join the people" and remove Gaddafi from office. Islamic leaders and clerics in Libya urged all Muslims to rebel against Gaddafi. The Libyan Ambassador to Poland stated that the flood of defections by elements of the Army and Air Force, as well as by government ministers, could not be stopped and that Gaddafi's days in power were numbered. He also said that firing on the protesters was only increasing the unrest and that it was the sign of a dying government. The Libyan Ambassadors to Indonesia, Bangladesh, the European Union and India also resigned in protest of the actions of the Gaddafi government.
*Protesters seized control of the oil town of Ra's Lanuf and workers set up committees to protect the oil installations.
*Activists claimed that protesters surrounded Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziza compound and were trying to storm it, but were forced back by heavy gunfire that killed up to 80 people.

22 February

*Gaddafi made a brief appearance on Libyan state television in which he said he had been speaking to the youth in Tripoli's Green Square. He also said:

Gunfire was reportedly heard throughout the night of 21–22 February. Government soldiers were reported to have continued some bombarding to keep defecting soldiers away from the protests. Fighter jets were reported to have targeted army ammunition depots in order to prevent troops from joining the protesters.
*A Libyan naval vessel was reportedly sighted off the coast of Malta. According to Al Jazeera, five Italian fighter jets overflew the ship, and the Italian Navy began conducting surveillance. The ship reportedly had its flag lowered, suggesting that the crew may want to defect. The Armed Forces of Malta several times denied reports in the international media that it was monitoring any such vessels approaching Maltese shores.
*Former Libyan Ambassador to India Ali Abd-al-Aziz al-Isawi, stated that he feared returning to Libya. He also confirmed that fighter jets were used to bomb civilians, and that foreign mercenaries, who seemed to have come from other African states, were "massacring" people.
*Former Libyan Ambassador to Bangladesh A. H. Elimam, was also reported to have "disappeared" after 9:00 Bangladesh time. Al Jazeera said the last conversation with him noted "a sense of panic" in his voice and that his phone had been switched off. He indicated a feeling of being threatened by an intelligence officer at the embassy, who was from the same village as Gaddafi. The Bangladeshi Foreign Ministry and other diplomats in that state could not confirm his whereabouts.
*A doctor in Tripoli told ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' that mercenaries broke into his hospital and killed injured people.
*Former UK Foreign Secretary David Owen said that a "military intervention" via a no-fly zone was immediately necessary. The Austrian Army reported that the airspace around Tripoli had been closed, but later retracted the statement. An Austrian Defense Ministry spokesman, Michael Huber, said: "One of our sources said that initially that it (airspace) was closed, but then another later confirmed otherwise. Our plane was able to leave."
*Eyewitnesses reported that thousands of African mercenaries were flown into Tripoli to put down the uprising. One insider source reportedly said that Gaddafi now could only rely on his own clan and 5,000 men, out of 45,000, and knew he could not retake Libya. According to this source, he apparently planned to force a Pyrrhic victory on his opponents; to whittle down their numbers with many skirmishes, harm the economy by sabotaging oil reserves, and in every sense damaging infrastructure to the best of his ability, stating "I have the money and arms to fight for a long time". Oil infrastructures may be sabotaged to cut economic supply to rebel clans, while fights may lead thousands to flee Libya to pressure them. Thus, all may prefer to accept the Gaddafi's status quo.
*In a second speech within twenty-four hours, believed by commentators to be made from his family compound in the Bab al-Azizia military barracks in southern Tripoli, Gaddafi blamed foreign powers and hallucinogens being forced on the protesters for the unrest. He rejected stepping down, saying he had no official position from which he could step down, and stated that he would "die as martyr". The scenery of the speech indicated that Gaddafi was in Libya.
*In his hour-long speech, he blamed the uprising on "Islamists", and then warned that an "Islamic emirate" has already been set up in Bayda and Derna, where he threatened the use of extreme force and genocide-like tactics, to stop the Islamfication of Libya. Gaddafi vowed to fight on and die a "martyr" on Libyan soil. He then called on his supporters to take back the streets on the 23rd from protesters and tribal rebels, who were demanding that he step down. He also went on to state that he had "not yet ordered the use of force", and warned viewers that "when I do, everything will burn".
*Gaddafi vowed to fight his opponents "until the last drop of his blood had been spilt" rather than step down, describing anti-government protesters as "rats" and "mercenaries" working for foreign states and corporate agendas. Gaddafi said the rioting urban youths that were opposed to his rule were manipulated by others who gave them drugs and who were trying to turn Libya into an Islamic state. (In earlier speeches he blamed "Zionists" for the riots.) Furthermore, he threatened a Tiananmen-style crackdown. The speech would later be parodied in a viral YouTube video entitled '' Zenga Zenga''.
*Abdul Fatah Younis, who held the position of top general and interior minister, escaped from house arrest, resigned, and called for the army and police to fight Gaddafi and his government. Until his resignation, General Younis was regarded as the second most powerful man in Libya.
*Human Rights Watch said that at least 233 people had been killed up to 22 February.
*By nighttime, the Arab League had suspended the Libyan delegation from meetings until the Libyan people were safe.

23 February

*UK Foreign Secretary Hague said in a press release that there were "many indications of the structure of the State collapsing in Libya". He also urged the Libyan state to listen to people's demands. Luxembourger Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called the situation in Libya a genocide and called for massive intervention from the international community. He argued a resolution was needed allowing control of Libyan airspace so as to stop mercenaries entering Libya. He called Gaddafi a "sick and dangerous" "tyrant".
*Peru fully severed diplomatic ties with Libya's government and the African Union conducted a security meeting on the rapidly changing situation in Libya. The European Union agreed in principle to impose sanctions, the form of which to be decided the following Friday, and the Dutch government met in emergency session to consider freezing billions of euros of assets invested by Tamoil, the Libyan government's oil company.
*The Warfalla, the largest of the numerous tribes in Libya, joined calls from other tribes for Gaddafi to stand down.
*Mustafa Abdul Jalil, Libya's justice minister, who had resigned on 21 February in protest at the "excessive use of violence" against protesters along with diplomats at the Libyan Mission to the United Nations, who called on the Libyan Army to help remove "the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi". He had also asserted that Gaddafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing of 1988.
*Youssef Sawani, a senior aide to Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, resigned from his post "to express dismay against violence" and thousands of foreigners continue to leave, with chaos at Tripoli International Airport.
*Tripoli's streets were deserted after Gaddafi urged attacks on protesters, but Tobruk was still full of protesters. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said there were credible reports that about 1,000 people have been killed in Libya's week-old rebellion. Frattini also confirmed that the eastern half of Libya, known as Cyrenaica, was no longer under Gaddafi's ''de facto'' control. Unconfirmed reports suggested that the government now only controlled a few parts of Tripoli and the southern desert town of Sabha. Misrata was confirmed to be under protester control. The pre-Gaddafi 1951–1969 royalist Libyan flag was also reportedly raised in Zawiya, west of Tripoli. Both coastal Tripolitania and most of northern Cyrenaica were in rebel hands by the middle of the day. The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights said that the anti-Gaddafi protesters also controlled Sirte, Misrata, Khoms, the Tarhunah District, Zintan, Zawiya and Zuwara. Pro-Gaddafi forces were sent to Sabratha

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