Southern Gate (Az-Zawiyah)

 Upload a photo

The main highway into Az Zawiyah from the South passes under the coastal highway connecting Tunisia with Tripoli at the Southern Gate. Its seizure by the National Liberation Army on 14 August marked a turning point in the course of the 2011 civil war.

Control of this point severed regime supply lines from Tunisia. NLA fighters from the Nafusa were able to join up with sympathisers still living in Az Zawiya and neighbouring towns, which had suffered severe repression following earlier attempts to rebel. Hundreds if not thousands of political prisoners were freed from Surman prison, to reinforce the war effort. From here, NLA forces came into position to begin attacking regime forces at the Zawiya oil refinery, the last source of fuel for the regime. Control of the coastal highway also isolated regime forces to the West, where a coordinated attack was taking place at Ra's Ajdir on the border with Tunisia.