Bani Walid (Anglicized: ; , Libyan pronunciation: ) is a city in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

located in the Misrata District. Prior to 2007, it was the capital of Sof-Aljeen District. Bani Walid has an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

. Under the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, it was divided into two Basic People's Congresses: Dahra – Bani Walid (), and Zaytouna – Bani Walid (). It is the home to the Warfalla tribe, the only city in which only one tribe resides. A campus of Bani Walid University is located in Bani Walid.

Libyan civil war

In the

2011 Libyan Civil War The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, 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 ...

, after the anti-Gaddafi forces captured Tripoli in August and Sabha in September, Bani Walid, along with Sirte, was one of two final strongholds held by forces loyal to the ousted government of Muammar Gaddafi. There were clashes between anti-Gaddafi forces surrounding the city and Gaddafi loyalists defending it throughout September and early October; the city was finally taken on 17 October. Finnish company Perusyhtymä (today YIT) constructed in the 1980s a factory in the city used for the assembly of rifles and possibly other weapons.

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

reported that it had hit two "command hubs" in the city and one ammunition dump. It is possible that the latter had originally been built by the Finns. 200 Finnish engineers and other experts worked in Bani Walid. Some had their families in the area. The "dirty jobs" were done by around 2,000 cheap labourers from the Philippines. In Finland, the media found out about the construction of the weapons factory in 1994 and 2011. In the 1980s, Libya was the second-largest country of export for the Finnish construction industry, after the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In the early 1980s, Finns had about 20 major construction projects in Libya. In addition to the weapon factory, other Finnish constructions included streets in Tripoli and the entire oil city of Ras Lanuf. A large number of Libyan architects have been trained with Finnish help. Construction export became more difficult after the UN set up a trade embargo in 1992. As late as 2008, a shopping complex designed by Finns was being built.

Post-civil war violence

On 23 January 2012, around 100–150 local fighters attacked the main NTC army base in Bani Walid, killing eight NTC fighters and wounding at least 20 others. On 25 January 2012, Libya's defense Minister recognised the newly formed local tribal council, which overthrew the local NTC council, as the new authority of Bani Walid. In October 2012, a successful and controversial armed campaign to recapture the city was launched.

Transportation

The city is served by the Bani Walid Airport, located west of the city centre.

Educational

There is a public university named Bani Walid university and a college: * Bani Walid University * College of Electronic Technology Bani Walid

References

External links