101 Battalion, also known as 101 Brigade or Tajura Battalion, was a military insurgent unit in the eastern suburbs of Tripoli, aligned with
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 ...
and 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 ...
.
It was particularly associated with the suburbs of
Tajura
Tajura ( ar, تاجوراء, translit=Tājūrā), also spelt ''Tajoura'', is a town in north-western Libya, and baladiyah in the Tripoli Muhafazah, on the Mediterranean coast east of Tripoli.
From 2001 to 2007 Tajura was the capital of t ...
and Fashloum.
Origin and name
101 Battalion, based in
Tajura
Tajura ( ar, تاجوراء, translit=Tājūrā), also spelt ''Tajoura'', is a town in north-western Libya, and baladiyah in the Tripoli Muhafazah, on the Mediterranean coast east of Tripoli.
From 2001 to 2007 Tajura was the capital of t ...
,
took its name from the Libyan National Army's 101 Light Infantry Battalion.
Leadership
In 2013, 101 Battalion was led by Misbah al-Harna.
It was later led by Abdullah Sassi until his capture and apparent execution in April 2015.
Battles
On 16 November 2013, 101 Battalion was attacked at its
Tajura
Tajura ( ar, تاجوراء, translit=Tājūrā), also spelt ''Tajoura'', is a town in north-western Libya, and baladiyah in the Tripoli Muhafazah, on the Mediterranean coast east of Tripoli.
From 2001 to 2007 Tajura was the capital of t ...
base by
Misratan forces. A Tajura military council member and a Tripoli local council member claimed that 101 Battaloin abandoned the base, and that Tajura military council organised forces that forced the Misratan attackers to leave.
On 17 April 2017, 101 Battalion attacked
Libya Dawn
The National Salvation Government ( ar, حكومة الإنقاذ الوطني) was a government body formed by politicians from the General National Congress's blocs that lost the June 2014 elections in Libya. The NSG was led by Khalifa al- ...
forces in Tajura. The Libya Dawn forces detained and killed Abdulla Sassi, according to ''Afrigate News''.
Libya Dawn sources denied the claim that Sassi was killed. Abdullah Sassi had previously been involved in the revolution against
Muammar Gaddafi, in which Sassi's sister was killed by pro-Gaddafi forces for subversive activities. Abd al-Basit Sharr was accused of having executed Sassi and was himself executed on 31 December 2015 in Tajura.
References
{{Libya-stub
First Libyan Civil War
Libyan insurgent groups