Following large scale protests across the country, what would soon become part of the organized opposition in Libya gained control over most of the Nafusa mountains.

[citation needed] On the morning of 2 March, the rebels realised that the town was overrun by government troops.

It was reported that the rebels were initially successful as Gaddafi forces retreated, however they later regrouped and attacked.

[9][10] A spokesman for the rebel military council in the Nafusa Mountains asserted, "Gharyan is fully in the hands of the revolutionaries.

[18] Mizda lies near a strategic junction between roads to Gharyan, Bani Walid, and Sabha.