National Liberation Army (Libya)

National Liberation Army
جيش التحرير الوطني
Also known as	Free Libyan Army
Commander-in-Chief	Abdul Fatah Younis (appointed) † Khalifa Haftar (self-proclaimed)
Defence Minister	Omar al-Hariri (March–May 2011) Jalal al-Digheily (May–October 2011)
Dates of operation	March–October 2011
Allegiance	National Transitional Council
Headquarters	Ajdabiya, Libya[1]
Active regions	Libya
Ideology	Anti-Gaddafism Democracy[2] Pluralism[3] Secularism[4] Islamism (factions)[5]
Size	3,000 (initially) 17,000 (peak)
Allies	NATO  United States  United Kingdom  France  Egypt[6]  Qatar  United Arab Emirates[7]  Iran[8][9]
Opponents	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Battles and wars	First Libyan Civil War

The National Liberation Army (Arabic: جيش التحرير الوطني الليبي jaysh al-taḥrīr al-waṭanī al-lībī), officially the National Liberation Armed Forces of the Free Libyan Republic, formerly known as the Free Libyan Army,^[10] was a Libyan military organisation affiliated with the National Transitional Council, which was constituted during the First Libyan Civil War by defected military members and civilian volunteers, in order to engage in battle against both remaining members of the Libyan Armed Forces and paramilitia loyal to the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. Its self proclaimed chief commander was General Khalifa Haftar,^[11] although the National Transitional Council preferred to appoint Major General Abdul Fatah Younes Al-Obeidi as its commander-in-chief.^[12] It had prepared for some time in portions of Eastern Libya controlled by the anti-Gaddafi forces for eventual full-on combat in Western Libya against pro-Gaddafi militants, training many men before beginning to go on the offensive.^[13][14] They have battled for control of Benghazi, Misrata, Brega, Ajdabiya, Zawiya and Ra's Lanuf as well as several towns in the Nafusa Mountains. They finally began the Battle for Tripoli in August 2011 when they attacked from the west of the city, as well as fomenting an internal uprising on 20 August.

There were claims that there were 8,000 soldiers in Benghazi equipped with a substantial number of weapons captured from abandoned Libyan army depots, including AK-47 and FN FAL rifles, RPGs, SPGs, anti-aircraft guns and several tanks.^[15] The National Liberation Army had at least 3,000 soldiers after initial defections from the Libyan Armed Forces, and later more than 17,000 at its peak.^[16]

The force was formerly named the Free Libyan Army, but it was changed at the end of May 2011 to "help better define the increasingly professional and disciplined military efforts to overcome the Gaddafi regime", according to a statement released by the National Transitional Council.^[17] It uses the tricolour flag first adopted by Libya in 1951, which has become emblematic of the Libyan Republic and the revolt against Gaddafi; considering that the flag is the same sign of Libya's independence and freedom from the Italian occupation.

The NLA finally succeeded in defeating the last pro-Gaddafi remnants on 20 October 2011, during heavy fighting in Sirte,^{[citation needed]} and captured Muammar Gaddafi himself, who later died of bullet wounds after his capture, effectively ending the Libyan civil war. The current status of the organisation following the Libyan provisional government's "declaration of liberation" was its reorganization into the Libyan National Army.