when was the civil war in libya?
2011
neutral
 The war began with the Libyan occupation of northern Chad in 1983 , when Libya 's leader Muammar Gaddafi , refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the Chadian President Hissène Habré , militarily supported the attempt by the opposition Transitional Government of National Unity ( GUNT ) to overthrow Habré . The plan was foiled by the intervention of France which , first with Operation Manta and later with Operation Epervier , limited Libyan expansion to north of the 16th parallel , in the most arid and sparsely inhabited part of Chad . 

entailment
 In the conflict 's early months it appeared that Gaddafi 's government – with its greater firepower – would be victorious . Both sides disregarded the laws of war , committing human rights abuses , including arbitrary arrests , torture , extrajudicial executions and revenge attacks . On 26 February the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1970 , suspending Libya from the UN Human Rights Council , implementing sanctions and calling for an International Criminal Court ( ICC ) investigation into the killing of unarmed civilians . In March , the Security Council declared a no fly zone to protect the civilian population from aerial bombardment , calling on foreign nations to enforce it ; it also specifically prohibited foreign occupation . Ignoring this , Qatar sent hundreds of troops to support the dissidents , and along with France and the United Arab Emirates provided the NTC with weaponry and training . 

entailment
 An attack started on 6 December , spearheaded by Soviet T @-@ 54 and T @-@ 55 tanks and reportedly coordinated by advisors from the Soviet Union and East Germany , brought the fall of the capital on 16 December . The Libyan force , numbering between 7 @,@ 000 and 9 @,@ 000 men of regular units and the paramilitary Pan @-@ African Islamic Legion , 60 tanks , and other armored vehicles , had been ferried across 1 @,@ 100 kilometers of desert from Libya 's southern border , partly by airlift and tank transporters and partly under its own power . The border itself was 1 @,@ 000 to 1 @,@ 100 kilometers from Libya 's main bases on the Mediterranean coast . Wright states that the Libyan intervention demonstrated an impressive logistical ability , and provided Gaddafi with his first military victory and a substantial political achievement . 

entailment
 Beginning in 2011 , popular uprisings that came to be collectively known as the Arab Spring deposed dictatorships in Tunisia , Egypt and Yemen . Similar mass movements were put down in Bahrain and touched off the Syrian Civil War Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi was killed after a civil war . " Those accustomed to the region 's repressive status quo have been caught by surprise " , wrote two editors of an anthology of writings by younger Arabs . " Young Middle Easterners — typically viewed with trepidation as part of a reactionary ' Arab street ' or simply overlooked as masses passively acquiescing to despots — have shattered stereotypes by leading dignified struggles in the face of overwhelming repression . " 

neutral
 Libya 's prompt retreat took many observers by surprise . One reason lay in Gaddafi 's desire to host the OAU 's annual conference in 1982 and assume the organization 's presidency . Another was Libya 's difficult situation in Chad where , without some popular and international acceptance for Libyan presence , it would have been difficult to take the concrete risk of causing a war with Egypt and Sudan , with US support . Gaddafi had not renounced the goals he had set for Chad , but he had to find a new Chadian leader , as Goukouni had proved himself unreliable . 
