Battle of Wazzin The Battle of Wazzin was a conflict during the Libyan Civil War for the Libyan - Tunisian border town of Wazzin . Rebel forces made an initial victory , but it was short lived as Gaddafi ' s men re - occupied the town , only to lose it again to the rebels . The battle spilled over into Tunisian territory on several occasions , prompting clashes with the Tunisian military ( which had not explicitly taken a side in the battle ) . The fighting turned Wazzin into something of a ghost town , valuable only as a strategic location . Background . In the early days of the war , towns in the Nafusa Mountains quickly joined the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi , but soon came under heavy attack by loyalist forces . Wazzin was initially taken by rebels , but soon fell under the control of loyalists , cutting off this supply line to the rebel - held mountain towns . To relieve the military and humanitarian pressure on their besieged towns , the rebels fought to retake the crossing . 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 returned to Libya without charge , however 13 men captured by the rebels remained in their hands . With the border post in rebel hands , they began bringing supplies from Tunisia into the besieged towns of the Nafusa Mountains . On 24 April , loyalist forces began shelling the border post in an attempt to recapture it , though no casualties were 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 having 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 again claimed to have 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 . Libyan Army enters Tunisia . Following the first border violation , Tunisian authorities were relatively quiet , believing the event to be a one off . However , after loyalists shelled Tunisian soil ( it is unclear if this was accidental or not ) , a warning was issued , but once fully fledged fighting began across the border , Tunisian officials stated that they were outraged and wanted both rebels and loyalists to put in place measures to stop similar incidents in the future . The Tunisian government took steps to prevent further civilian casualties on their side by evacuating all areas they felt were at risk from the Libyans . By 29 April , the situation on the border with Tunisia began deteriorating rapidly . Rebel forces were frequently using the border region as a way to evade capture by Gaddafi forces , as well as a principal resupply route . In response , the loyalist forces launched an artillery barrage on the Tunisian town of Dehiba , and advanced across the border . Elements of the Tunisian Army and border police , who had only recently returned to their posts following the border violation on 28 April responded with deadly force to the incursion . By mid - afternoon , press reports came in stating that the Tunisian military was engaged in combat with the Libyan Army in central Dehiba . Later in the day fights between pro - Gaddafi forces and Tunisian army had ceased . The Tunisian military had captured and disarmed pro - Gaddafi soldiers and then sent them back to Libya . As of 1 May , Gaddafi ' s forces were still shelling Tunisian territory , although no further casualties were reported . On 7 May , renewed fighting in Wazzin lead to more shells falling in Tunisian territory , sparking mass evacuations in the border town of Dehiba . Roughly 100 shells fell in Tunisian territory causing one house to be damaged yet nobody was killed . The Tunisian authorities stated that the situation was ' very dangerous ' and that they would do everything they had to in order to protect their country . Nine days later , on 16 May , Tunisian troops stopped 200 loyalist soldiers in 4x4s crossing into Tunisia to try to outflank the rebels . The soldiers cooperated and there was no confrontation . The next day , after Grad rockets continued to fall in Tunisian territory , the Tunisian government issued a warning to Libya that they would refer them to the UN security council . On 23 May , Gaddafi ' s men once again shelled Wazzin ; there were no reports of casualties or of rockets landing in Tunisia . There was a lull in fighting around the border , broken by Gaddafi ' s men firing Grad rockets into Tunisia on 14 June . Nobody was injured in the attack , but it was followed up by Tunisian forces flying a spy plane over loyalist positions . There are unconfirmed reports that Gaddafi ' s men attacked humanitarian workers on the Tunisian side of the border . On 11 July , there were sketchy reports that Gaddafi ' s men were still attacking Wazzin and of a large loyalist army amassing nearby , possibly with the intention of retaking the crossing . On 20 July , more rockets were fired into Tunisia by Gaddafi ' s men ; there were rumors that some NATO airstrikes may have landed across the border . Tunisian forces sent tanks to the border , hoping to intimidate Libyan forces into stopping the attacks . On 29 July , rebels attacked loyalists in nearby Ayn Ghazaya . Heavy fighting ensued , and rebels shut down the crossing until it was more secure .