Battle of Brega (1941) Brega was the location of a brief but important battle in the
Western Desert Campaign of the
Second World War. On 31 March 1941, during the opening phase of
Rommel's first offensive, the German
Afrika Korps expelled the British from their partially prepared positions at Marsa Brega. This opened the way for
Rommel's drive to the
Egyptian border and
encirclement of Tobruk.
Battles of Brega (2011) During the
Libyan Civil War, Brega found itself in the middle of numerous clashes between rebel and loyalist forces, as the front line shifted rapidly in each direction. By the middle of April, the town had changed hands six times in less than two months. Early on in the uprising, anti-government forces gained control of the town and oil production facilities. Government forces attempted to regain control of the area on 2 March, but were
repulsed by the rebels. On 15 March, government forces
retook Brega during their initial counter-offensive, as the disorganised rebel forces were crushed by the Loyalist's heavy weapons and air power. On 26 March, after the
UN imposed a no-fly zone which removed the threat of Loyalist air attacks, rebels advanced rapidly,
taking Brega back from Gaddafi's forces Eventually after pushing the Loyalists back from Ajdabiya, the rebels once again launched an
assault on the strategic oil town. On 16 July 2011, it was reported that the rebels appeared to have taken Brega. However, Reuters later reported ten rebels were killed and 172 wounded, and confirmed that the battle was still ongoing. Rebel radio reports said that after three days of heavy fighting, aided by substantial NATO bombing, rebel units had bypassed the town – cutting off the garrison from its supply lines. Libya's opposition National Transitional Council (NTC) said on 16 July that they were preparing to enter the oil refinery town of Brega "within days", even as they suffered heavy casualties in the offensive. There was heavy NATO bombardment on the morning of 17 July, during which warplanes destroyed a large military vehicle storage area in Tajura, 30 kilometres east of Tripoli, that consisted of several substantial warehouses containing various military vehicles including battle tanks, armoured personnel carriers and ammunition. This was followed by intense street fighting in the town's northeastern area, with the rebels using heavy machine guns. On the morning of 18 July, it was reported that Gaddafi's forces were in full retreat and that the rebels were clearing land mines before securing the entire town. Before midday, the rebels claimed victory in the battle. On 23 July, the rebels were still clearing mines while facing "negligible" resistance from a small remaining force of Gaddafi loyalists. According to the local council, the eastern part of the town of Brega was controlled by the AGF by 11 August, and by 17 August all three zones of Brega (residential, oil refinery, administrative) were under the control of the AGF. The UN Inter-Agency mission to Brega on 8 September accessed the residential (Old Brega) zone and visited the heavily damaged Al-Najm University of Technology. Population slowly started to return, although most of the inhabitants remained for a while living outside of Brega (i.e. in Ajdabiya) and commuting daily to check on their property and houses.
Other events On 13 January 2000, a
Short 360 aircraft leased by the
Sirte Oil Company crashed off the coast, resulting in 22 fatalities. The crash is thought to have occurred after the plane's engines were flooded with melting ice, after failure to engage the aircraft's
ice protection system. ==Industry==