First Battle of Benghazi The First Battle of Benghazi occurred as part of the Libyan civil war between army units and militiamen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and anti - Gaddafi forces . The battle mainly took place in Benghazi , the second - largest city in Libya , with related clashes occurring in the nearby Cyrenaican cities of Bayda and Derna . In Benghazi itself most of the fighting occurred during a siege of the government - controlled Katiba compound . Beginning . The fighting in Benghazi started on 17 February , after two days of protests in the city . Security forces opened fire on protesters , killing 14 . The next day , a funeral procession for one of those killed passed the Katiba compound . Accounts differ on whether mourners began throwing stones first or the soldiers from Katiba opened fire without provocation . In the end , another 24 people from the opposition protesters were killed . Following the massacre , two policemen , who were accused of shooting the protestors , were hanged by the opposition . Police and army personnel later withdrew from the city after being overwhelmed by protesters . Some army personnel joined the protesters and helped them seize the local state - controlled radio station . In Bayda , unconfirmed reports indicated that local police and riot control units joined the protesters . Two days earlier , on 16 February , it was also reported that Islamist gunmen , with the help of a defecting army colonel , stormed an arms depot in Derna and seized 250 weapons and an assortment of 70 military vehicles . During the raid four soldiers were killed and 16 wounded . By the end of 18 February , the only place that still housed a significant number of Gaddafi loyalists in Benghazi was the Katiba compound . On 19 February , another funeral procession passed the Katiba compound en route to the cemetery in an act of defiance and were again fired upon by Gaddafi loyalists in the compound . By this time , some 325 mercenaries from southern Africa were flown into Benghazi and other towns in the east to help restore order . During 18 and 19 February , there were major retaliatory attacks by the opposition forces against the mercenaries . 50 African mercenaries were executed by the protesters in Bayda . Some died when protestors burned down the police station in which they locked them up and 15 were lynched in front of the courthouse in Bayda . Following the second attack on a funeral , opposition forces commandeered bulldozers and tried to breach the walls of the Katiba compound , often retreating under heavy fire . As the fighting continued , a mob attacked a local army base on the outskirts of Benghazi and forced the soldiers to give up their weapons , including three small tanks . Opposition members then rammed those tanks into the Katiba compound ' s walls . Days later , the burned hulks of the armored vehicles could still be seen , stuck halfway into the breaches they made . End . The fighting stopped on the morning of 20 February . Another 30 people were killed during the previous 24 hours of fighting . A third funeral procession passed the Katiba compound . Under the cover of the funeral , a suicide car - bomber attacked the compound ' s gates , blowing them up . Opposition fighters resumed their assault on the base , this time with reinforcements from Bayda and Derna . During the final attack on the compound 42 people were killed . The gate was blown open by a Mehdi Mohammed Zeyo , an 48 year old man , who drove his fashioned two gas canisters into the boot of his car , and drove into the main gate . The compound was taken by oppositon forces hours later . In the afternoon , Libyan Interior Minister Abdul Fatah Younis showed up with a special forces squad called the " Thunderbolt " to relieve the besieged barracks . Troops from his unit , based on the outskirts of town , arrived at the opposite side of the Katiba armed with machine guns and driving trucks mounted with anti - aircraft guns . Two tanks under Younis ' s command followed . However , Younis defected to the opposition and granted safe passage to Gaddafi ' s loyalists out of the city . Gaddafi ' s troops evacuated but not before killing soldiers who refused to open fire on the opposition . Some 130 rebel soldiers were killed in Benghazi and Bayda . Casualties . 110 - 257 opposition members were killed in Benghazi . In addition , another 63 opposition members were killed in Bayda and 29 in Derna . Also , 130 rebelling soldiers were reported to be executed by government forces . An estimated total of 332 - 479 members of the opposition forces died during the fighting in Benghazi , Bayda and Derna . Another 1 , 932 were wounded . 111 soldiers loyal to Gaddafi were also killed . Of the 325 mercenaries sent to the east to quell the uprising ' s initial phase , it was reported that 50 were captured and executed by the opposition , and at least 236 were captured alive . The fate of the others was unknown .