Gulf of Sidra Offensive (2017)
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Libyan National Army victory[1]
| Gulf of Sidra Offensive (2017) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Libyan Civil War | |||||||
.svg) Map of the initial GNS offensive. GNS gains were later reversed. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
Supported by:
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Supported by:  United Arab Emirates (allegedly) | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Idris Bukhamada (After 7 March) |
Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar | ||||||
The Gulf of Sidra Offensive was an offensive of the Second Libyan Civil War. It was launched by the Benghazi Defense Brigades on 3 March 2017, and initially resulted in them taking control of a strip of coastal territory between the towns of Nofaliya and Ras Lanuf, which was then handed over to the Government of National Accord. A number of significant oil ports are located in this area, sometimes referred to as the Oil Crescent. The loss of the Oil Crescent was perceived by analysts as a major blow to the power of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.[4]
On 14 March, Haftar's Libyian National Army (LNA) recaptured all positions lost to the Benghazi Defence and Misratan Brigades in a counter-offensive after several days of aerial bombardment.[5][6][7]
The oil ports targeted in the offensive had been under the control of the Libyan National Army, which supports the Tobruk-based elected parliament, since September 2016, when they were seized from the Petroleum Facilities Guard. The Benghazi Defense Brigades, an Islamist-dominated militia, had been founded in Spring 2016, by fighters driven from the key eastern city of Benghazi by the Libyan National Army.[8] The BDB is allied with surviving elements of the defeated PFG.
Offensive
After travelling north through the Sahara Desert from the town of Zella, the BDB simultaneously attacked the ports of Nofaliya, Bin Jawad, Sidra and Ras Lanuf on 3 March. Already overstretched by insurgents in northeastern Cyrenaica, the Libyan Air Force was unable to respond effectively to the BDB's simultaneous attacks. After a short but intense period of fighting, the Libyan National Army withdrew east, leaving the BDB in control of the ports.[9] By 4 March, at least nine people were believed to have been killed in the offensive.[10] Over the following days, air strikes were launched by the Libyan Air Force against the BDB, and as of 7 March, the LNA was reportedly massing forces for a counterattack, to be launched from the town of Brega, possibly with the assistance of the United Arab Emirates.[11] Later that day, however, the BDB announced that it had handed the captured ports over to the Government of National Accord, which responded by dispatching the PFG to the area.[12]