Bani Walid

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Arabic بني وليد
Bani Walid
Bani Walid (Libya)
Bani Walid
Bani Walid
Coordinates 31 ° 45 ′  N , 14 ° 0 ′  E Coordinates: 31 ° 45 ′  N , 14 ° 0 ′  E
Basic data
Country Libya

Shaʿbiyya

Misrata
ISO 3166-2 LY-MI
Residents 82,287 (2010)

Bani Walid ( Arabic بني وليد) is a city in Libya in the municipality of Misrata . Until 2007 it was the capital of the former municipality of the same name Bani Walid .

Location and infrastructure

The city is about halfway on the road between Misrata in the northeast and Mizda , about 120 km away. It is mostly inhabited by members of the Warfalla tribe. It is part of Misrata University in Bani Walid.

history

As the city was one of the last strongholds of supporters of the ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi , who had been overthrown as a result of the civil war in Libya , it was besieged by the rebels in early September 2011. An ultimatum to surrender the city had previously expired.

On September 16, units of the Libyan National Liberation Army began the capture of Bani Walid. There were battles in which heavy weapons were used. At the end of September 2011, the army asked NATO for more support in the capture. On October 17, 2011, it was reported that the rebels had captured the city.

In November 2011, Gaddafi supporters killed 15 soldiers from the Libyan National Liberation Army.

On January 23, 2012, there was a firefight in the city between supporters of the National Transitional Council and local Warfalla militias, during which local militants took control of the city. In initial reports, the Transitional Council described them as supporters of Gaddafi, a point of view which the UN representative for Libya, Ian Martin, contradicted.

At the end of October 2012, troops from the new government tried to recapture Bani Walid. The ultimate trigger was the kidnapping and killing of the nationwide famous Omar ben Schaaban , who is said to have played a key role in the killing of Gaddafi. About 40,000 people fled the city because of the fighting and it was marked by artillery fire . In the meantime, the government announced that it had taken control. However, this was subsequently put into perspective again.

Since the refugee crisis in 2015 , the city has been a stopover for sub-Saharan migrants on their way to Europe and their people smugglers . In and around Bani Walid, the Libyan state, people smugglers and militias each operate their own prisons in which several human rights organizations have reported that human rights violations and torture take place. The relatives of imprisoned migrants are often blackmailed into paying ransom.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ World Gazetteer ( Memento of the original from August 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / world-gazetteer.com
  2. ↑  dpa: overthrow of Gadhafi: Libyan rebels besiege Bani Walid. In: zeit.de. September 17, 2011, accessed December 14, 2014 .
  3. ↑ The battle for Ghadhafi stronghold is raging. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . September 16, 2011, accessed September 16, 2011 .
  4. ↑ New leadership calls for more NATO attack on Sirte and Bani Walid. (No longer available online.) Stern.de , September 28, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved October 18, 2011 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.stern.de  
  5. ^ Rebel army conquers Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid. stern.de, October 17, 2011, accessed October 18, 2011 .
  6. ↑ Gaddafi supporters conquer desert city. In: The daily newspaper . January 24, 2012, accessed January 24, 2012 .
  7. ^ Fighting in Libya - dead in clashes in Bani Walid. sueddeutsche.de , January 23, 2012, accessed on January 23, 2012 .
  8. ↑ Christoph Sydow: Gaddafi successor: Libya's new rulers slip away from control. In: Spiegel Online . January 26, 2012, accessed February 6, 2012 .
  9. ↑ UN: Fighters in Bani Walid are not Gaddafi supporters. In: derStandard.at . APA , January 26, 2012, accessed February 6, 2012 .
  10. ↑ Government- loyal troops capture Bani Walid. In: FAZ.net . October 24, 2012, accessed December 14, 2014 .
  11. ↑ Libyan army has no control over Bani Walid
  12. ^ Claas Meyer-Heuer, DER SPIEGEL: SPIEGEL TV on Libya, a country with a civil war - DER SPIEGEL - Politics. Retrieved January 19, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Alexander Bühler, Deutschlandfunk: Endstation Libya: The business with the refugees - Deutschlandfunk / Deutschlandfunk Kultur - Das Feature. Retrieved April 9, 2020 .