Battle of Wazzin

thumbThe 1st Battle of Ajdabiya was the first battle that took place in Wazzin. It was a crucial city due to having a border crossing to Tunisia for rebels bringing in supplies to other towns in the Nafusa Mountains.

Battle
On 21 April, rebel forces assaulted Wazzin but were met with fierce resistance by loyalist soldiers. Their advances were initially slow but eventually they overwhelmed Gaddafi's men, taking the town of Wazzin before swiftly capturing the crossing itself, causing Gaddafi's men to be trapped in between the Tunisian border and the advancing rebels. In the end, 105 loyalist soldiers retreated into Tunisia where they surrendered to Tunisian officials. All of Gaddafi's men have since returned to Libya without charge, however 13 men captured by the rebels remain in their hands. Since the border post has been in rebel hands, they have began bringing supplies from Tunisia into the besieged towns of the Nafusa Mountains.

On the 24 April, loyalist forces began shelling the border post in an attempt to recapture it, no casualties have yet been reported. On 28 April, loyalist forces re-captured the Wazzin border crossing with Tunisia after a swift advance in which they pushed the rebels back over the border into Tunisia where the fighting continued on the edge of the Tunisian border town of Dehiba. State TV stated that several rebels were killed and others captured in the attack on the border post. Later during the day, the rebels attempted a counter-attack. Initially, they claimed to had re-taken the post. However, Reuters denied it later by confirming that the loyalists were still in full control. During the confusion when it was thought that the rebels had won scores of civilian vehicles attempted to re-enter Libya from Tunisia. But, they quickly turned back when they found Gaddafi's forces were still at the border crossing. Heavy fighting continued into the night, with rebels apparently massing for a renewed attack against the better-armed loyalists and during the evening the rebels once again claimed to had re-taken the crossing after they received reinforcements from Zintan. Still, this claim was also later found to be untrue.

The next morning, loyalist troops advanced from the crossing post of Wazzin in pursuit of the rebels, who had retreated onto Tunisian soil after a night of fighting, over the border and engaged them in the center of the town of Dehiba. Soon after that clashes between Gaddafi and Tunisian troops were reported. The Tunisian military soon seized loyalist troops and led them back over the border. At the same time, the rebels claimed for a third time to had re-taken the border post. However, Al Jazeera confirmed that the Gaddafi green flag of Libya was still flying over the border post thus proving that government troops were still in control. Control of the post shifted back and forth in the following days, with the rebels holding the post according to most recent reports. The city would still a site for shelling by Gaddafi forces.