No Result
View All Result
Monday, July 7, 2025
23 °c
Tripoli
24 ° Sat
24 ° Sun
  • Advertising
  • Contact
LibyaHerald
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
LibyaHerald
No Result
View All Result
Home Libya

Exclusive: Full-scale assault on Bani Walid begins

byGeorge Grant
October 18, 2012
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Exclusive: Full-scale assault on Bani Walid begins

A tank heads towards the front line from the Kilometre 60 checkpoint east of Bani Walid on Thursday. (Photo: George Grant)

By George Grant.

A tank heads towards the front line from the Kilometre 60 checkpoint east of Bani Walid on Thursday. (Photo: George Grant)

Kilometre 60:

Ground forces have begun a full-scale assault against Bani Walid in a major escalation of clashes that began . . .[restrict]on Tuesday.

The attack marks the apparent termination of efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis, with further casualties on both sides being reported throughout today, Thursday.

“We have started to enter Bani Walid and we are not far away from the centre of the town”, said army spokesman Mohammed El-Gandus. “If we win this fight, Libya will finally be free.”

RELATED POSTS

Aldabaiba proposes new Road Map for holding elections, loans and land for youth and money for healthcare for war wounded

Cooperation agreements reached between Libyan and the Greek pharmaceutical and medical companies: Tripoli Chamber of Commerce

Units from the national army were dispatched by General Yusuf Mangoush earlier today, with the intention of entering Bani Walid peacefully following an agreement to that effect brokered by a government delegation with local leaders on Saturday.

It is understood that the force was ordered to halt shortly after its departure, however, with brigades surrounding Bani Walid having resolved to enter instead by force.

“They were given the order to stay where they were”, said Mohammed Bashir, president of the government-aligned Bani Walid local council in Tripoli. “Mangoush ordered them to stop”.

The reasons behind that decision remain unclear, as does the extent to which the army chief of staff is actually in control of events on the ground.

National Congress President Mohamed Magarief has not provided any comment on his position regarding today’s developments and did not respond to calls from the Libya Herald this evening. It is understood that he will make a statement on the situation tomorrow morning.

A spokesman for Misrata’s general hospital told this paper that four people had been killed in fighting yesterday, and 41 wounded.

Today, the Libya Herald witnessed an army helicopter bringing a further three casualties to the town, one of them dead having been shot in the head by a sniper.

A member of the flight crew, who returned to the front line shortly after to pick up a fourth casualty, said they had been wounded in fighting close to the centre of Bani Walid.

The deputy director of Bani Walid general hospital, Abdullah Al-Mansuri, has said that seven people from the hill-town had been killed yesterday and 75 wounded. The hospital could not be reached this evening to confirm how many more casualties had been received today.

A helicopter brings casualties back to Misrata on Thursday. (Photo: George Grant)

Speaking from the Kilometre 60 checkpoint to the east of Bani Walid, Mohammed El-Gandus said that around 2,000 forces were involved in the assault and that Bani Walid airport was already under their control.

This claim has been contradicted by residents inside the town, however, who say that they successfully repulsed attacks launched against them.

“We are still in control of the airport and they have not entered the town”, said Ibrahmi Warfalli, a lawyer inside Bani Walid.

Warfalli also said that several dozen Misratan fighters were killed today after they were lured into a trap, but this has not been independently verified.

El-Gandus said that the attacking forces were coming from two fronts to the east of Bani Walid, along the roads from Mordum and As Saddadah.

“The people from Bani Walid are fighting very well”, he said, “because they know they are going to die. This is the last fight between the people supporting Qaddafi and the people supporting the revolution”.

The army spokesman said he could not put a date on when the attacking forces would succeed in taking control of the town.

“Maybe it will take some days. Maybe something unexpected will happen. It will take time if the people supporting Bani Walid use civilians as a shield. We do not want to kill civilians”.

The stated objective of the assault is to enforce Resolution No. 7, passed by the National Congress on 25 September. The resolution came on the same day as the death of Omran Shaban, the Misratan revolutionary credited with first discovering Muammar Qaddafi in a drainpipe in Sirte on 20 October last year.

The Congress initially gave Bani Walid ten days to handover those accused of involvement in Shaban’s death along with several others wanted in association with crimes allegedly committed under the former regime.

Shaban was captured in Bani Walid on 12 July together with a colleague, having been dispatched there in the wake of the abduction of two prominent Misratan journalists four days earlier.

He was shot in the spine after his vehicle approached a checkpoint without stopping, and allegedly tortured whilst inside Bani Walid before his release on 13 September.

Leaders in Bani Walid have protested that the matter is fundamentally a judicial, not a military one, and that Resolution No. 7 is unconstitutional. To date, however, it is not believed that any investigation into the Shaban incident has begun. [/restrict]

Tags: featured

Related Posts

Libya Herald exclusive: Responding to the prime minister’s call yesterday to the private sector and banks to do more, leading businessman Husni Bey responds
Business

Op-Ed: Reputational Damage Is Worse Than Losing Money

July 2, 2025
Libyan Russian Economic Forum starts in St. Petersburg
Libya

Libyan Russian Economic Forum starts in St. Petersburg

June 27, 2025
MoI establishes Elections Security and Protection Department
Libya

Aldabaiba and Menfi stress use of polling feedback to establish consensus basis for constitutional process: report and analysis

June 26, 2025
GNU to take oath at Benghazi HoR session and budget to be approved at Tripoli session: GNU
Libya

“There is no state built by gangs and criminality, it’s built by engineers, youth, consultants, security, police and army”: Aldabaiba

June 23, 2025
GNU to take oath at Benghazi HoR session and budget to be approved at Tripoli session: GNU
Libya

187 new security posts taken over from militias – PM declares victory for the state as all vital Tripoli sites come under its exclusive control for the first time since 2011

June 19, 2025
Interior Ministry’s Diplomatic Missions Protection personnel receiving training in Ukraine
Libya

The Interior Ministry had spent LD 50 billion in 13 years with no result: Acting Interior Minister Trabelsi

June 17, 2025
Next Post
Italian ambassador opens social centre in Bu Sleem

Italian ambassador opens social centre in Bu Sleem

Protestors in Sebha demand local elections

ADVERTISEMENT

Top Stories

  • Libya Herald exclusive: Responding to the prime minister’s call yesterday to the private sector and banks to do more, leading businessman Husni Bey responds

    Op-Ed: Reputational Damage Is Worse Than Losing Money

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • CBL demands imports are conducted through official banking instruments and the elimination of the FX black market

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • All imports into Libya must be paid for through official bank transactions

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Libya’s economy showed recovery in 2024, remained resilient despite reliance on hydrocarbons and ongoing political and security instability: World Bank

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • A 247,000-bpd oil production increase would achieve US$ 6 billion annually to enhance ability to meet FX demand, maintain strength of LD and achieve economic balance: CBL ‎

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
ADVERTISEMENT
LibyaHerald

The Libya Herald first appeared on 17 February 2012 – the first anniversary of the Libyan Revolution. Since then, it has become a favourite go-to source on news about Libya, for many in Libya and around the world, regularly attracting millions of hits.

Recent News

A 247,000-bpd oil production increase would achieve US$ 6 billion annually to enhance ability to meet FX demand, maintain strength of LD and achieve economic balance: CBL ‎

Op-Ed: Reputational Damage Is Worse Than Losing Money

Sitemap

  • Why subscribe?
  • Terms & Conditions
  • FAQs
  • Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights
  • Subscribe now

Newsletters

    Be the first to know latest important news & events directly to your inbox.

    Sending ...

    By signing up, I agree to our TOS and Privacy Policy.

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password? Sign Up

    Create New Account!

    Fill the forms below to register

    *By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Login
    • Sign Up
    • Libya
    • Business
    • Advertising
    • About us
    • BusinessEye Magazine
    • Letters
    • Features
    • Why subscribe?
    • FAQs
    • Contact

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.