Back التدخل العسكري في ليبيا Arabic Першая інтэрвенцыя ў Лівіі Byelorussian Военна интервенция в Либия 2011 Bulgarian Koalicijska intervencija u Libiji BS Vojenská intervence v Libyi Czech Ymyrraeth filwrol yn Libia, 2011 Welsh Den libyske flyveforbudszone Danish Internationaler Militäreinsatz in Libyen 2011 German Intervención militar en Libia de 2011 Spanish 2011ko Libiako esku-hartze militarra Basque

2011 military intervention in Libya

2011 military intervention in Libya
Part of the First Libyan Civil War


Top: The no-fly zone over Libya as well as bases and warships which were involved in the intervention
Bottom: Coloured in blue are the states that were involved in implementing the no-fly zone over Libya (coloured in green)
Date19 March 2011 – 31 October 2011[4]
(7 months, 1 week and 5 days)
Location
Libya
Result

NATO Coalition/Anti-Gaddafi victory

Belligerents

 NATO[a]

 Jordan
 Qatar
 Sweden
 United Arab Emirates

Libya Anti-Gaddafi forces

 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Commanders and leaders
Opération Harmattan:
France Nicolas Sarkozy
France Alain Juppé
France Édouard Guillaud
Operation Ellamy:
United Kingdom David Cameron
United Kingdom Liam Fox
United Kingdom David Richards
Operation Mobile:
Canada Stephen Harper
Canada Peter MacKay
Canada André Deschamps
Operation Odyssey Dawn:
United States Barack Obama
United States Hillary Clinton
United States Robert Gates
United States Carter Ham
Italy Silvio Berlusconi
Italy Ignazio La Russa
Italy Claudio Graziano
Operation Unified Protector:
NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen
United States James G. Stavridis
Canada Charles Bouchard
United States Ralph Jodice
Italy Rinaldo Veri		 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi †[5]
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
 (POW)[6]
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Khamis Gaddafi †
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Al-Saadi Gaddafi
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr †[5]
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Ali Sharif al-Rifi
Strength
260 aircraft
21 ships[7]		 200 medium/heavy SAM launchers
220 light SAM launchers[8]
600 anti-aircraft guns[9]
Casualties and losses
None
None
1 USN MQ-8 shot down[10]
3 Dutch Naval Aviators captured (later released)[11]
1 Royal Netherlands Navy Lynx captured[11]
1 USAF F-15E crashed (Mechanical failure)[12]
1 UAEAF F-16 damaged upon landing[13]

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 5,900 Military targets  Executed

  • 600 tanks or armored vehicles
  • 400 artillery or rocket launchers
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Unknown number of soldiers killed or wounded (NATO claim)[14]
72+ civilians killed (according to Human Rights Watch)[15]
40 civilians killed in Tripoli (Vatican claim)[16]
223–403 likely civilian deaths (per Airwars)[17][18]
The US military claimed it had no knowledge of civilian casualties.[19]
This article is part of
a series about
Muammar Gaddafi
Personal
Affiliations
Libya under Muammar Gaddafi
Military (Armed Forces)
Leadership (History)
Elections and referendums
Muammar Gaddafi's signature

On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 (UNSCR 1973), in response to events during the First Libyan Civil War. With ten votes in favour and five abstentions, the intent of the UN Security Council was to have "an immediate ceasefire in Libya, including an end to the current attacks against civilians, which it said might constitute 'crimes against humanity' ... [imposing] a ban on all flights in the country's airspace — a no-fly zone — and tightened sanctions on the Muammar Gaddafi regime and its supporters."[20]

American and British naval forces fired over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles, and imposed a naval blockade.[21] The French Air Force, British Royal Air Force, and Royal Canadian Air Force[22] undertook sorties across Libya.[23][24][25] The intervention did not employ foreign ground troops, with the exception of special forces, which were not covered by the UN resolution.[26][27]

The Libyan government's response to the campaign was totally ineffectual, with Gaddafi's forces not managing to shoot down a single NATO plane, despite the country possessing 30 heavy SAM batteries, 17 medium SAM batteries, 55 light SAM batteries (a total of 400–450 launchers, including 130–150 2K12 Kub launchers and some 9K33 Osa launchers), and 440–600 short-ranged air-defense guns.[9][28]

The official names for the interventions by the coalition members are Opération Harmattan by France; Operation Ellamy by the United Kingdom; Operation Mobile for the Canadian participation and Operation Odyssey Dawn for the United States.[29] Italy initially opposed the intervention but then offered to take part in the operations on the condition that NATO took the leadership of the mission instead of individual countries (particularly France). As this condition was later met, Italy shared its bases and intelligence with the allies.[30]

From the beginning of the intervention, the initial coalition of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Qatar, Spain, UK and US[31][32][33][34][35] expanded to nineteen states, with newer states mostly enforcing the no-fly zone and naval blockade or providing military logistical assistance. The effort was initially largely led by France and the United Kingdom, with command shared with the United States. NATO took control of the arms embargo on 23 March, named Operation Unified Protector. An attempt to unify the military command of the air campaign (whilst keeping political and strategic control with a small group), first failed over objections by the French, German, and Turkish governments.[36][37] On 24 March, NATO agreed to take control of the no-fly zone, while command of targeting ground units remained with coalition forces.[38][39][40] The handover occurred on 31 March 2011 at 06:00 UTC (08:00 local time). NATO flew 26,500 sorties since it took charge of the Libya mission on 31 March 2011.

Fighting in Libya ended in late October following the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, and NATO stated it would end operations over Libya on 31 October 2011. Libya's new government requested that its mission be extended to the end of the year,[41] but on 27 October, the Security Council unanimously voted to end NATO's mandate for military action on 31 October.[42]

It is reported that over the eight months, NATO members carried out 7,000 bombing sorties targeting Gaddafi's forces.[43]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Blomfield, Adrian (23 February 2011). "Libya: Foreign Mercenaries Terrorising Citizens". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  2. ^ HUMA KHAN; HELEN ZHANG (22 February 2011). "Moammar Gadhafi's Private Mercenary Army 'Knows One Thing: To Kill'". ABC News. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  3. ^ Meo, Nick (27 February 2011). "African Mercenaries in Libya Nervously Await Their Fate". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Nato chief Rasmussen 'proud' as Libya mission ends". BBC News. 31 October 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Muammar Gaddafi Killed as Sirte Falls". Al Jazeera. 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 23 October 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  6. ^ "Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam captured in Libya". BBC News. 19 November 2011. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Operation Unified Protector Final Mission Stats" (PDF). NATO. 2 November 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  8. ^ "The North African Military Balance", Anthony H. Cordesman, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 29 March 2005, p. 32, p. 36
  9. ^ a b M. Cherif Bassiouni, "Libya: From Repression to Revolution", 13 December 2013, p. 138
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference helicrash was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b "Three Dutch Marines Captured During Rescue in Libya". BBC News. 3 March 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  12. ^ "US Crew Rescued after Libya Crash". BBC News. 22 March 2011. Archived from the original on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  13. ^ "UAE Fighter Jet Veers Off Runway at Base in Italy: Report". Zawya/AFP. 27 April 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  14. ^ "NATO: Gadhafi Forces Caught Mining Misrata Port". USA Today. Brussels. Associated Press. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  15. ^ "Unacknowledged Deaths: Civilian Casualties in NATOs Air Campaign in Libya". Human Rights Watch. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  16. ^ "Vatican: Airstrikes Killed 40 Civilians in Tripoli". The Jerusalem Post. 31 March 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  17. ^ Imhof, Oliver (18 March 2021). "Ten years after the Libyan revolution, victims wait for justice". Airwars. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  18. ^ "All Belligerents in Libya, 2011".
  19. ^ "Coalition Targets Gadhafi Compound". CNN. 16 March 2011. Archived from the original on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference UN-AllNecessaryMeasures was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ "Libya Live Blog – March 19". Al Jazeera. 19 March 2011. Archived from the original on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  22. ^ "Libya: US, UK and France attack Gaddafi forces". BBC News. 20 March 2011. Archived from the original on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  23. ^ "French Fighter Jets Deployed over Libya". CNN. 19 March 2011. Archived from the original on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  24. ^ "France Uses Unexplosive Bombs in Libya: Spokesman". Xinhua News Agency. 29 April 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  25. ^ Gibson, Ginger (8 April 2011). "Polled N.J. Voters Back Obama's Decision To Establish No-Fly Zone in Libya". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
  26. ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard (24 August 2011). "Nato will not put troops on ground in Libya". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  27. ^ "British and French special forces with Libya rebels | August 2011 news defense army military industry UK | Military army defense industry news year 2011". www.armyrecognition.com. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  28. ^ Anthony H. Cordesman (29 March 2005). "The North African Military Balance" (PDF). Center for Strategic and International Studies. p. 32, p. 36. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  29. ^ "Gunfire, Explosions Heard in Tripoli". CNN. 21 March 2011. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  30. ^ Horace Campbell (2013). NATO's Failure in Libya: Lessons for Africa. African Books Collective. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-7983-0343-9.
  31. ^ "Qatar, several EU states up for Libya action: diplomat". EUbusiness.com. 19 March 2011. Archived from the original on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  32. ^ "Paris Summit Talks To Launch Military Action in Libya". European Jewish Press. 19 March 2011. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  33. ^ "Libya: President Obama Gives Gaddafi Ultimatum". BBC News. 19 March 2011. Archived from the original on 19 March 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  34. ^ "Libya: RAF Jets Join Attack on Air Defence Systems". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  35. ^ Batty, David (19 March 2011). "Military Action Begins Against Libya". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  36. ^ Norington, Brad (23 March 2011). "Deal Puts NATO at Head of Libyan Operation". The Australian. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  37. ^ Traynor, Ian; Watt, Nicholas (23 March 2011). "Libya No-Fly Zone Leadership Squabbles Continue Within Nato". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  38. ^ Brunnstrom, David; Taylor, Paul (24 March 2011). "NATO reaches agreement on Libya command (Google cached page)". National Post. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  39. ^ "NATO to police Libya no-fly zone". Al Jazeera. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  40. ^ Burns, Robert; Werner, Erica (24 March 2011). "NATO Agrees To Take Over Command of Libya No-Fly Zone, U.S. Likely To Remain in Charge of Brunt of Combat". Huffington Post. Washington D.C. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  41. ^ "Libya's Mustafa Abdul Jalil asks Nato to stay longer". BBC. 26 October 2011. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  42. ^ "UN Security Council votes to end Libya operations". BBC News. 27 October 2011. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  43. ^ "All Belligerents in Libya, 2011". airwars.org. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
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