The anti-Gaddafi forces, also known as the Libyan opposition or Libyan rebels, were
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 ...
n groups that opposed and militarily defeated the government of
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
during the
First 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 ...
in 2011,
killing him in the process. The Anti-Gaddafi forces were represented by the
National Transitional Council
The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. After rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the NTC governed Libya for a further ...
and their
National Liberation Army, which claimed to be the "only legitimate body representing the people of Libya and the Libyan state".
These opposition forces included organized and armed militia groups, participants in the Libyan Civil War,
Libyan diplomats who switched their allegiance from the Gaddafi-led government, and
Libyan military units that switched sides to support the protesters.
Political opposition
The following is a list of groups who self-proclaimed opposition to the rule of Gaddafi:
*
National Transitional Council
The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. After rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the NTC governed Libya for a further ...
*
Tripoli Brigade
*
Zintan Brigades
*
Misrata Military Council
*Libyan Youth Movement
*Committee for Libyan National Action in Europe
*
Libyan Freedom and Democracy Campaign
**
Democratic Party
*
National Conference for the Libyan Opposition
The National Conference for the Libyan Opposition (NCLO) was a Libyan opposition organization during the later years of the Gaddafi government. Its stated goal was to bring "an end to tyranny and the establishment of a constitutional and democ ...
**
Libyan League for Human Rights
**
National Front for the Salvation of Libya
Libyan Constitutional Union*
Libyan Islamic Movement
Armed opposition
Command and control
On 5 March 2011, opposition forces radio in
Benghazi
Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...
announced the creation of the
National Transitional Council
The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. After rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the NTC governed Libya for a further ...
, a political body with 33 representatives from most Libyan regions. The
Chairman of the Council is
Mustafa Abdul Jalil,
Abdul Hafiz Ghoga is the Vice-Chairman, and
Mahmoud Jibril is the
Chairman of the Executive Board.
Omar El-Hariri
Omar Mokhtar El-Hariri (; – 2 November 2015) was a leading figure of the National Transitional Council of Libya who served as the Minister of Military Affairs in 2011, during the Libyan Civil War. He controlled the National Liberation Army a ...
was the head of military affairs until May 2011. Then later that month the position was renamed to Minister of Defense and
Jalal al-Digheily was assigned to that position. On 8 August 2011, Jalala along with 14 other members of the Executive Board were fired, and the position left vacant but was reappointed in early October 2011 after continuing in the role of interim defense minister for almost two months.
The Commander-in-Chief was General
Abdul Fatah Younis
Abdul Fatah Younis Al-Obeidi (; , sometimes transliterated ''Fattah Younis'' or ''Fattah Younes'' or ''Fatah Younes''; 1944 – 28 July 2011) was a Libyan military officer and politician. He served as Libya's interior minister until his resignat ...
until his death in July 2011.
Suleiman Mahmoud, Younis's top lieutenant, replaced him as army commander. Colonel
Khalifa Haftar
Khalifa Haftar (; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). In 2015, he was appointed commander of the armed forces loyal to the 2014 Libyan parliam ...
was another top military commander. The army was organized into brigades, with rebel fighters bearing identity cards.
Weapons and vehicles
The Libyan opposition was mainly using vehicles and weapons captured from government forces or depots. The opposition had only had access to
T-55 tanks and a very small amount of
T-72
The T-72 is a family of Soviet Union, Soviet main battle tanks that entered production in 1973. The T-72 was a development based on the T-64 using thought and design of the previous Object 167M. About 25,000 T-72 tanks have been built, and refu ...
tanks captured during the
Second Battle of Benghazi
The Second Battle of Benghazi was fought between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and anti-Gaddafi forces in Benghazi on 19-20 March 2011 during the 2011 Libyan Civil War, Libyan Civil War. The battle marked the ...
. News coverage commonly showed rebels driving ordinary cars and
technicals near battle areas. On 9 March 2011, a report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies said: "Apart from a few mechanized units in Benghazi and Tobruk, and a few armored battalions near Bayda, rebel-controlled areas lack any substantial hardware with which to take on the pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Tripoli." However, two fighter jets defected from Gaddafi and joined the rebels and were used during the
Battle of Ajdabiya and damaged an armed oiler tanker and possibly two others. They also gained several helicopters from defected units based in Benghazi, these aircraft forming the
Free Libyan Air Force. One of these aircraft, a Soviet-made
MiG-23BN, was shown having been shot down in a
friendly fire incident over Benghazi after it was mistaken for an enemy aircraft.
They had also captured a large number of
ZU-23-2 and
ZPU anti-aircraft guns, as well as
rocket-propelled grenade
A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), also known colloquially as a rocket launcher, is a Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that launches rockets equipped with a Shaped charge, shaped-charge explosive warhead. Most RPGs can ...
s,
KPV 14.5×114mm Dshk machine guns,
FN FAL
The FAL (, English: Light Automatic Rifle) is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal and others since 1953.
During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of the NATO, North Atlantic Trea ...
,
F2000 and
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
rifles, and
FN MAG
The FN MAG (, , ) is a Belgian 7.62 mm calibre, 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale de Herstal, Fabrique Nationale (FN) by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries and it h ...
,
AA-52 and
PK machine gun
The PK (, transliterated as ''Pulemyot Kalashnikova'', or "Kalashnikov's machine gun"), is a belt-fed general-purpose machine gun, chambered for the 7.62×54mmR rimmed cartridge. The modernized and most commonly known variant, known as the PKM ...
s. Britain sent 5,000 sets of body armor, 6,650 uniforms, and communication equipment to police in rebel-held areas.
In addition to conventional and improvised weapons, there was a surprising amount of sophistication among rebel equipment, with some even fashioning
unmanned ground vehicles from remote-controlled toy cars and the like.
Human rights violations
The government of
Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
asked the
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 ...
coalition forces to protect its citizens in rebel-held areas of Libya. The
Chadian government claims that dozens of its citizens have been executed after being accused of being mercenaries for Gaddafi.
See also
*
References
External links
Libyan Republic Interim Transitional National CouncilNational Conference for the Libyan Opposition - Official siteLibyan Freedom and Democracy Campaign - Official siteNational Front for the Salvation of Libya - Official siteLibya Watanona
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Gaddafi Forces
Political history of Libya
Rebel groups in Libya
ru:Ливийские повстанцы