The battle of Sirte took place in 2011, from 15 September to 20 of October. It would see Muammar Gaddafi ousted from power in a bloody and drawn out battle. Sirte is a relatively small town on the Libyan coast, it was also Gaddafi's home town and would become his defacto capitol during the battle. The NTC (National Transitional Council) rebels, with assistance from NATO airstrikes, had fought Gaddafi's army all the way to Sirte in less than a year. During the battle, 16,000 NTC went up against just 1,000-5,000 loyalists. This article will examine the battle through photographs from each side. The photos are very one sided to the NTC, as videos and photos did not easily make it out of the pocket as the fighting took place. During the battle, the NTC did not know Gaddafi himself was besieged, they assumed fighting was so fierce because one of his sons was trapped.
Loyalist T-72M1s destroyed in Misrata in August 2011. The battle of Sirte followed months of NATO airstrikes on pro-Gaddafi military equipment. The T-72M1 was the most capable tank the Libyan military had. The Libyan military had plans to upgrade them in Russia before the war broke out.
Gaddafi Loyalists fire a SCUD missile early in the battle of Sirte. This shows how well equipped the pocket was and why it held out for over a month.
NTC T-72 Ural and T-55 advancing toward Sirte.
Masses of NTC technicals inside Sirte.
S-5 rocket pod technical. Originally mounted on helicopters.
T-72 Urals moving in.
T-55s and a T-62.
NATO airstrike on Sirte.
NTC fire a ZU-23-2 on the coast of Sirte.
Allegedly a mercenary hired to fight for Gaddafi captured by NTC.
NTC T-72 Ural shelling Sirte.
The battle for Sirte airport would go back and forth, with the NTC claiming it was captured several times. Here, NTC T-55s shell the area.
Sirte map.
NTC M-46 130mm battery shelling Sirte.
An NTC M40 recoilless rifle fires on loyalists.
A KPV 14.5mm technical fires on loyalists in the streets of Sirte.
An S-5 rocket pod, originally mounted to helicopters, launches rockets on loyalist buildings.
A ZPU-4 14.5mm fires.
A BMP-1 moves on the hard fought Sirte roundabout.
NTC T-55s fire on loyalist positions.
NTC capture a loyalist T-72M1. It is camouflaged to hide from NATO airstrikes.
A ZU-23-2 firing on Sirte districts.
ZPU-2 techincals.
NTC fighter firing an RPG-7.
S-5 rocket pods.
NTC BMP-3 Khrizantema-S ATGM carrier with a T-55 participating in the battle for Sirte. Four of these were received from Russia before the war broke out.
As fighting got closer to the last districts under Gaddafi's control, Al-Dollar and District 2, loyalist forces flooded the streets by breaking sewage pipes.
Situation map.
A T-72 Ural shells District 2.
A ZU-23-2 technical firing in the water.
Technicals in the water.
A T-55 fires in the flooded streets.
After over a month of battle a large loyalist convoy attempted to break out of the Sirte pocket. French fighter jets were called in to bomb the convoy. Muammar Gaddafi himself was in this convoy, which was not known at the time. Gaddafi and several of his bodyguards took off on foot and hid in a drainage ditch, where they were discovered by NTC fighters. Gaddafi's guards fought the NTC until being killed or retreating. Comically, one of the guards threw a grenade, but it bounced back killing the guard and possibly wounding Gaddafi in the legs as well, though some sources claim he was shot in the legs by the NTC. Gaddafi was then taunted, tortured and executed by the NTC. Once Gaddafi was dead, NATO decided its bombing campaign was complete.
The drain Gaddafi and his guards hid out in until their discovery by the NTC.
Gaddafi's golden pistol, a Browning Hi-Power 9mm. He allegedly held the pistol to the NTC fighters before being convinced to lower it and was then pulled from the drain.
So ended the battle of Sirte, but not the war. Libya is now a failed state almost 10 years later. NATO has done little to aid the nation since, only caring to depose the leader they didn't like. War continues between various factions for control of the once stable nation. Many NTC fighters today say they wish Gaddafi was still in power.
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