Yafran

Yafran /ˈjɑːfrən/ (Berber: ⵢⴼⵔⴰⵏ Ifran, Arabic: يفرن‎ Yafran, Italian: Iefren), also spelled Jefren, Yefren, Yifran, Yifrin or Ifrane, is a city in northwestern Libya, in the Jabal al Gharbi District in the western Nafusa Mountains. Before 2007, Yafran was the administrative seat of the Yafran District.[3] Recognized as a largely Berber community with several different tribes and colonies gathered in one village.

For the village in Iran, see Yafran, Iran.
Yafran

يفرن
ⵢⴼⵔⴰⵏ

Iefren
City
Top: The view from the city of Yafran; Middle Left: Yellow blossom flowers blooming in spring; Middle right: Ancient church in Yafran; Bottom left: The ancient ruin town of Yafran Bottom right: The houses in Yafran covered with snow
Yafran
Location in Libya
Coordinates: 32°03′46″N 12°31′36″E
Country Libya
RegionTripolitania
DistrictJabal al Gharbi
Elevation678 m (2,224 ft)
Population
 (2012)[2]
 • Total54,573
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
Area code(s)+218 421

Libyan civil war
Main article: 2011 Nafusa Mountains Campaign

Yafran people, as in other cities of Libya, have demonstrated against Gaddafi. Subsequently, Yafran was exposed to bombardment and siege by Gaddafi forces. As of May 2011, Gaddafi's forces had shut down the water system and blocked food supplies[4] and held the western part of the town with some 500 rebels in the eastern section of Yafran still resisting.[5]

Yafran fell to Gaddafi's forces sometime in late May or early June. The centre of the town was used as a position for "government tanks, artillery guns and snipers".[6] On 2 June, rebel forces retook the city center and started to clear the area of Gaddafi's forces.[7] On 6 June, an on-site Reuters journalist reported that the pro-Gaddafi forces were nowhere to be seen in or around the town.[8]

See also

Notes
  1. Wolfram Alpha
  2. World Gazetteer. "Libya: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population". Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  3. " مدينةيفرن" ("Yafran District") Website of the General People's Committee of Libya, from Internet Archive dated 18 April 2006, in Arabic
  4. People of Yafran, besieged by pro-Gaddafi forces, facing starvation | Libya TV
  5. Libyan begs NATO to save his small town
  6. Boudreaux, Richard (1 June 2011). "Conflict Hardens in Libya's Mountains". The Wall Street Journal.
  7. Rebels in western Libya seize mountain towns in push toward Tripoli « Shabab Libya
  8. Al Jazeera, Libya Live Blog, June 6

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