2011 – Present
ONGOINGThe Arab Spring uprising of February 2011 shattered Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year grip on Libya, igniting a revolution that drew NATO airpower and toppled one of Africa's most idiosyncratic dictatorships within eight months. With Gaddafi dead and no functioning state institutions beneath him, the country fragmented into competing armed militias, rival parliaments, and regional power centers, collapsing into a second civil war in 2014 that pitted the UN-recognized Government of National Accord in Tripoli against General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army in the east. What began as a liberation became a laboratory for modern proxy warfare, with Turkey and Qatar backing the GNA and Russia, the UAE, and Egypt supporting Haftar, turning Libya's vast oil fields and Mediterranean coastline into prizes in a geopolitical contest that shows no sign of resolution.
Chapter-by-chapter narrative with maps, primary sources, and key events.
Explore battles on a live map with a timeline slider and territory overlays.
Deep-dive into every major engagement — commanders, casualties, significance.
Biographical flip cards with real portraits, facts, and full biography pages.
Trace each figure's full life journey — birth, education, battles, and death — on a live map.
Scroll-driven visualization of casualties — each dot a thousand lives.
Weapons, war machines, and the military innovations that defined how this conflict was fought.
Cause-and-effect chains tracing the war's long shadow on history.
War crimes, massacres, and the darkest chapters of this conflict — documented for history.
The Arab Spring uprising of February 2011 shattered Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year grip on Libya, igniting a revolution that drew NATO airpower and toppled one of Africa's most idiosyncratic dictatorships within eight months. With Gaddafi dead and no functioning state institutions beneath him, the country fragmented into competing armed militias, rival parliaments, and regional power centers, collapsing into a second civil war in 2014 that pitted the UN-recognized Government of National Accord in Tripoli against General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army in the east. What began as a liberation became a laboratory for modern proxy warfare, with Turkey and Qatar backing the GNA and Russia, the UAE, and Egypt supporting Haftar, turning Libya's vast oil fields and Mediterranean coastline into prizes in a geopolitical contest that shows no sign of resolution.
Libyan Civil War was fought from 2011 to the present day.
Libyan Civil War was fought between GNA / UN-Recognized Government and LNA / Haftar Forces / Gaddafi.
An estimated 40,000 people died in Libyan Civil War, including roughly 25,000 military and 15,000 civilian deaths. Figures are scholarly estimates and vary by source.
Major engagements included Battle of Benghazi, LNA Offensive on Tripoli, Fall of Tripoli, and Battle of Misrata.