The events regarding the military intervention on 19 March can be tracked in the related articles: Timeline of the 2011 Libyan Civil War before military intervention Timeline of the 2011 Libyan Civil War and military intervention (19 March–May) Timeline of the 2011 Libyan Civil War and military intervention (16 August – 23 October)
The 2011 Libyan Civil War began on 17 February 2011 as a civil protest and later evolved into a widespread uprising. After a military intervention led by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States (and later NATO) on 19 March turned the tide of the conflict at the Second Battle of Benghazi, anti-Gaddafi forces regrouped and established control over Misrata and most of the Nafusa Mountains in Tripolitania and much of the eastern region of Cyrenaica. In mid-May, they finally broke an extended siege of Misrata.
This phase of the war saw an extended stalemate on the eastern front, with little movement between Ajdabiya and Brega. However, in the west, anti-Gaddafi fighters advanced from Misrata to seize control of surrounding areas, sacking the rival town of Tawergha as retribution for its support to the Libyan Army and allied mercenary fighters that had committed atrocities against their port city. Fighters in the Nafusa Mountains also became better organized, with Qatari military advisers and increased involvement by the National Transitional Council based in Benghazi helping to train disparate militiamen from Arab and Amazigh villages into something resembling a cohesive fighting force.
The NTC gained critical international recognition from the United States and other states during this period and began to open embassies and diplomatic offices in foreign capitals. But the opposition council was dealt a jarring setback by the murder of top military commander General Abdul Fatah Younis under mysterious circumstances in late July. Despite the muddled situation in the east, by mid-August, anti-Gaddafi units based in the Nafusa Mountains were mounting a bold offensive north toward the Mediterranean Basin.
Stalemate (1–14 June)
1 June
NATO extended its mission to enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 for an additional ninety days. The UN Human Rights Council declared that its fact-finding mission found Gaddafi guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ghanem defected from the Gaddafi administration due to "unbearable violence". Despite uncertainty at first over joining the opposition, he later declared his support to the NTC in a Roman news conference. Rebel forces reported that Shakshuk, near the city of Jadu and well within Gaddafi territory, was captured. Four car explosions triggered by a hand grenade damaged the Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi, a hotel used by the NTC and residence of many foreign journalists. Despite damage to the hotel, there were no injuries or casualties.
2 June
Cooling international concern, the Libyan opposition has downplayed concerns of oil contract re-negotiation as they meet with the leaders in Libya's oil industry. NATO air attacks destroyed ammunition and vehicles depots, a SAM launcher, and a radar installation in the capital.
3 June
Two RAF Apache helicopters attacked a radar site and an armed checkpoint near Brega, the next logical waypoint in the opposition's campaign westward. French Gazelles were reported to have simultaneously been out on mission, marking the first time the helicopters were used by NATO. Opposition fighters reportedly liberated the western towns, Qasr el-Haj, Shakshuk, and Bir Ayyad of loyalist forces.
4–5 June
Army Air Corps Apache gunships, launched from , destroyed several targets near the Brega-Ajdabiya front line including ammunition bunkers and radar installations while the French Gazelles also hit numerous targets around Brega in preparation for the perceived upcoming rebel offensive on the ground. Libyan state media was under attack today because they told foreign reporters that a child who was injured in a NATO airstrike sustained her injuries in an unrelated car crash. This information was apparently passed to the foreign reporters in a note, at the hospital where she was situated. The Netherlands and Denmark denied recognition of the NTC as the authority of Libya after rebels claimed such.