Battle of Bin Jawad

The Battle of Bin Jawad was a battle in the Libyan Civil War between forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi forces for control of the town of Bin Jawad.

Battle

On 5 March 2011, following the Battle of Ra's Lanuf, rebel forces advanced along the Mediterranean coast and captured the town of Bin Jawad. They stopped during the night in the hamlet and planned to continue on to Sirte in the morning. During the evening, the opposition forces pulled back to Ra's Lanuf so they could prepare to continue their push to the west.

On the morning of 6 March, the rebels were on the move again and were passing through Bin Jawad, when they realized that loyalist forces had entered the town the previous night and taken up positions in houses and on rooftops in preparation for an ambush. Government troops opened fire on the rebels with machine guns and RPGs and the opposition forces were soon in full retreat toward Ra's Lanuf. During the chaos, about 50 rebel fighters were left behind and trapped inside a Bin Jawad mosque. An opposition force in 20 pickup trucks tried to surge back into the city and rescue them, but was hit by artillery fire and one truck was destroyed. The rest of the convoy quickly retreated back to the edges of the town. Gaddafi's forces had retaken Bin Jawad.

As the rebels were retreating east of Bin Jawad, they were hit by helicopter and air strikes. After getting a chance to regroup, rebels moved up several multiple-rocket launchers from Ra's Lanuf and fired toward Bin Jawad. However, loyalist troops had also pulled up their heavy weapons and an artillery duel followed. The new rebel frontline was established three kilometers east of the town.

During the fighting, one military helicopter was reported to have been shot down by the rebels and crashed in the sea.

Meanwhile, in Ra's Lanuf, loyalist air strikes hit the air base, held by the rebels. At least two people were killed and 40 wounded.

By the morning of 7 March, the BBC
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