Sirte

Sirte (also spelled Sirt, Surt, Sert or Syrte; pronounced /ˈsɜrt/; Arabic: سرت‎, About this sound pronunciation (help·info); from Ancient Greek: Σύρτις) is a city in Libya. It is on the south coast of the Gulf of Sidra (ancient Syrtis Major, from which Sirte's name is derived). Sirte lies halfway between Tripoli and Benghazi.

As the birthplace of Muammar Gaddafi, Sirte was favoured by the Gaddafi government. The city was the final major stronghold of Gaddafi loyalists in the Libyan civil war and Gaddafi was killed there by rebel forces on 20 October 2011. During the battle, Sirte was left almost completely in ruins, with many buildings totally destroyed or damaged.

History
In 1842 the Ottomans built a fortress at Marsat al Zaafran ("saffron harbour") which became known as Qasr al Zaafran ("saffron castle), and later as Qasr Sert. The fortress was built under sultan Abdülmecid I as part of the restoration of Ottoman control over Tripolitania after the fall of the Karamanli dynasty. It was around this fortification, which was taken over and repaired by the Italians in 1912, that the settlement of Sirte grew up.

Sirte served as an administrative centre under Italian rule. During the North African Campaign of the Second World War there were no noteworthy events in this location, which was characterised at the time as "a shabby little Arab village of mud huts, clustered on the banks of a foul-smelling stream."

The village grew into a prominent town after the Second World War for two reasons – the discovery and exploitation of oil nearby and the birth of Muammar Gaddafi in 1942 in a tent at Qasr Abu Hadi, some 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Sirte. He was sent to the primary school at Sirte at the age of ten.

After seizing power in 1969, Gaddafi transformed Sirte into a showcase of his self-proclaimed revolution, carrying out an extensive programme of public works to expand the former village into a small city. After 1988, most government departments and the Libyan parliament were relocated from Tripoli to Sirte, although Tripoli remained formally the capital of the country. Al-Tahadi University was established in 1991.

In a radio address on 1 September 2011, Gaddafi declared Sirte the new capital of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, replacing the former capital Tripoli, which had been captured by rebels.

Anti-Gaddafi forces surrounded the city during September 2011 and began a long, difficult battle there, hoping to bring the war to an end. On 20 October, after suffering massive casualties during a siege that lasted over a month, NTC fighters mounted a major offensive and took control of the last remaining district of Sirte, "Number Two", that was in the hands of regime loyalists. Muammar Gaddafi attempted to flee the city, but he was injured and captured by fighters. He was killed in custody less than an hour later.

Second Tiberium War
After his escape courtesy of Oxanna Kristos and her men from General Hassan's custody in Egypt where he was supposed to be executed, Anton Slavik acting on CABAL's advice fled to a base near here.

A force of Hassan's elite guard which had been sent to pursue Anton Slavik and arrange for his disappearance along with Oxanna Kristos found themselves unexpectadly outmatched by the base's defenses. Assembling a force of soldiers ablait with only basic weaponry, Anton Slavik was able to defeat Hassan's guards and wipe them all out, in the first act of the First Nod Reunification War.

Following hus victory Anton Slavik's forces moved in Sirte and established a rebel Nod military zone over the surrounding area. It was from Sirte he incited a rebellion against General Hassan's rule that would spread throughout Nod controlled North Africa and the Middle East.

Once the Second Tiberium War truly began, Sirte is believed to have remained under Nod control for the entirety of the war.