According to a report by the United Nations refugee agency, men had been kidnapped from Misrata during the battle for the city, and taken to governmental camps in Zliten, before being forced to pledge allegiance to the government and fight on the pro-Gaddafi side.

[6] By early May, the rebel Free Libyan Army had expelled pro-Gaddafi forces from Misrata, pushing by 9 May to the village of Dafniya, 20 kilometers east of Zliten.

[13] On 14 June, NATO attack helicopters were deployed and subsequently destroyed two rigid-hull inflatable boats being operated by pro-Gaddafi forces threatening maritime traffic in the area.

[14] The next day, Sheikh Khalifa Zuwawi, the chairman of the rebel council in Misrata, appealed to NATO to intervene in the city to save the uprising from certain annihilation by loyalist forces.

Reports suggested that the rebels were holding just a few pockets of the town near the center while the majority of the city was still in loyalist hands with government troops conducting sweeps and arresting people suspected of being involved with the opposition forces.