Anti-Gaddafi Victory National Transitional Council Libyan Arab Jamahiriya The Second Gulf of Sidra offensive was a military operation in the First Libyan Civil War conducted by rebel anti-Gaddafi forces in August and September 2011 to take control of towns along the Gulf of Sidra in an effort to surround Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, which was held by pro-Gaddafi forces.

[26] 23 August A day later, it was confirmed that rebel forces had managed to capture the village of El Agheila and were on their way to Ra's Lanuf.

[33][34] 25 August RAF Tornado aircraft attacked a military bunker in Sirte with precision guided missiles, in an attempt to destroy the government's remaining command and control capabilities, ahead of the rebels planned offensive on the city.

[40][41] 30 August The National Transitional Council gave the loyalists in Sirte a four-day-ultimatum to surrender or to face military assault.

[3] Also, to the west of Sirte, NTC forces overran a tribal encampment without resistance, taking over 100 assault rifles and some machineguns.

[50] 9 September Opposition forces engaged loyalist troops near Sirte, in the Red Valley,[51] during the night but withdrew after suffering heavy casualties.

[52] 10–14 September During a period of heavy fighting, in which opposition forces attempted to advance toward Sirte but made only gains of a few kilometers, at least 80 rebel fighters were killed.

But by 18 September, the rebels had retreated to the city's outskirts after encountering stiff resistance from well-armed loyalists and suffering heavy casualties.

[57] However, later reports put opposition forces at the town of Khamseen, still another 50 kilometers east of Sirte, facing stiff resistance from loyalist troops.

[60] 26 September Opposition forces continued their offensive against Sirte with NTC tanks shelling the city center from a distance of 2 kilometers from the western outskirts.