Battle of Benina Airport

Battle of Benina Airport
Part of Second Libyan Civil War
Date1 August – 15 October 2014
(2 months and 2 weeks)
LocationBenina International Airport, Benghazi, Libya
Result

Libyan National Army victory

Belligerents
Libya Libyan National Army Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries
Commanders and leaders
Libya Gen. Khalifa Haftar
(Commander of Operation Dignity)
Col. Wanis Abu Khamada
(Commander of Libya's Special Forces)
Brig. Gen. Saqr Geroushi
(Commander of the Libyan Air Force)		 Mohamed al-Zahawi † [1]
(Ansar al-Sharia Leader)
Wissam Ben Hamid
(Libya Shield 1 Commander)
Strength
5,000+ soldiers 4,000+ rebels
Casualties and losses
82 killed 300+ killed

The Battle of Benina Airport was a battle of the Libyan Civil War of 2014 which lasted from August 2014 until October 2014 between the Islamist Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries (supported by the LROR and Misrata Brigades), who attempted to capture the airport, and the Libyan Army.

Between June 2014 and July 2014, armed militants going by the name of Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries began launching indiscriminate attacks on military bases belonging to the Libyan National Army in the city of Benghazi, which prompted the Army to withdraw from the city. The Libyan National Army then managed to regroup its forces on the outskirts district of Benina (east of Benghazi) and took Benina Airport as its headquarters.

By the end of July 2014, Mohamed al-Zahawi, leader of Ansar al-Sharia and a member of Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries declared Benghazi an "Islamic Emirate" and vowed to advance his forces towards Benina and take Benina Airport from the Libyan National Army.

From the beginning of August 2014 until mid October 2014, Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries launched a full scale offensive on Benina Airport in an attempt to capture it from the Libyan National Army. Despite many attempts, the attack failed and proved to be disastrous as they failed to capture the Airport and suffered a significant death toll among their ranks, including Mohamed Al-Zahawi, in which left the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries leaderless and in a state of vacuum and disorder amongst their commanders and fighters, at this point this allowed the Libyan National Army to take advantage of the situation and counter attack the militants. The Libyan National Army eventually managed to push back the militants all the way back to the centre of Benghazi resulting in the Battle of Benghazi (2015).

References

  1. ↑ "Leader of Libyan Islamists Ansar al-Sharia dies of wounds". Reuters. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
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