The Nafusa mountains are heavily populated by ethnic Berbers, a group which suffered intense persecution under Gaddafi's rule. Gaddafi imposed bans on the teaching of the Berber language and on the use of traditional Berber names. In a 2008 diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks, Gaddafi warned Berber leaders "You can call yourselves whatever you want inside your homes – Berbers, Children of Satan, whatever – but you are only Libyans when you leave your homes."
Very soon, the protests spread to the whole country and by the end of February most of the towns in the Nafusa Mountains were under opposition control.[unreliable source?]
On 1 March, loyalist forces started offensive operations south of Tripoli with the aim of retaking territory lost in previous days to the rebels. Their first target was the city of Gharyan.
Gharyan was seen as a strategic town, because it was the largest in the Nafusa Mountains, a direct gateway to the Jabal al Gharbi District from Tripoli and was part of the defence ring loyalist forces were establishing around the capital.
During the night between the 1 and 2 March, loyalist forces came into the town, under the cover of darkness. On the morning of 2 March, the rebels realised that the town was overrun by government troops. Soldiers had a list of opposition members and started to round up all of the rebels in Gharyan. Gharyan had been retaken by the government, on the same day as the nearby city of Sabratha, located west of Tripoli.
As news of the retaking of Gharyan spread, the rebels found out that Gaddafi's forces were preparing an assault to retake Zintan, the first town in western Libya to throw off his rule. Around 40 trucks and armoured vehicles fitted with anti-aircraft guns were spotted 30 kilometers away heading to the city. Young people in Zintan took the fight to pro-Gaddafi forces, launching a series of "preventative attacks" on army barracks, checkpoints and other installations to gather weapons and equipment. At sunset, the city had been attacked three times and all repelled.
On 6 March, loyalist forces attempted another attack on Zintan which resulted in the deaths of 5-6 rebels and later rebels claimed that some 20 loyalist soldiers were killed. Government troops did not manage to enter the town. However, they had surrounded it and positioned mobile Grad rocket-launchers on the outskirts. By this point, government forces had also surrounded the towns of Yafran and Nalut. On 18 March, rebel forces from Nalut attacked a government checkpoint on the outskirts of the town. Four government soldiers and one rebel were killed in the fighting and 18 loyalist soldiers were captured. On 21 March, the pro-Gaddafi forces launched an offensive against the city. By 22 March, loyalist troops were pushed back from the eastern outskirts of the town, but were still holding a foothold in the northern outskirts. As of 24 March, heavy shelling of Zintan by artillery and tank fire was ongoing. The rebels claimed they captured or destroyed several tanks, seized trucks loaded with 1,200 Grad missiles and fuel tanks, and captured five Gaddafi troops. During the offensive against Zintan, 16-21 people were killed in the town, eight of them rebels.
Very soon, the protests spread to the whole country and by the end of February most of the towns in the Nafusa Mountains were under opposition control.[unreliable source?]
On 1 March, loyalist forces started offensive operations south of Tripoli with the aim of retaking territory lost in previous days to the rebels. Their first target was the city of Gharyan.
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As news of the retaking of Gharyan spread, the rebels found out that Gaddafi's forces were preparing an assault to retake Zintan, the first town in western Libya to throw off his rule. Around 40 trucks and armoured vehicles fitted with anti-aircraft guns were spotted 30 kilometers away heading to the city. Young people in Zintan took the fight to pro-Gaddafi forces, launching a series of "preventative attacks" on army barracks, checkpoints and other installations to gather weapons and equipment. At sunset, the city had been attacked three times and all repelled.
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