Zintan (, meaning "small castles") is a city in northwestern Libya, situated roughly southwest of Tripoli, in the Nafusa Mountains area. The city and its surrounding area have a population of 16,024.
History The Roman garrison town of Tentheos was on the Nafusa mountain range in the hinterland of the Limes Tripolitanus, near the border.Olwen Hackett, David John Smith: Ghirza. A Libyan settlement in the Roman period. Department of Antiquities, Tripoli 1984, S. 33.
Civil War activity Groups from Zintan joined in the Libyan Civil War in 2011. The Battle of Zintan reportedly began when the Gaddafi-led government forces arrived to recruit 1,000 soldiers. Insulted by the proposal to fight fellow Libyans, a group formed in Zintan to protest. As the group grew, pro-Gaddafi forces attacked but local groups counterattacked with seized weapons, "rout[ing]" a large, heavily armed government convoy on 19–20 March.Gadhafi retakes oil port in rebel-held east Libya Libyan rebels drive back government troops advancing on town of Zintan
The Zintan people were responsible for the capture of Saif al-Islam, the second son of Muammar Gaddafi. He was captured on 19 November 2011, a month after his father's death, about west of the town of Ubari near Sabha in southern Libya.
In 2015, during the Second Libyan Civil War, the area was damaged by a series of airstrikes from February to April.
In February 2026, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, second son of son of Muammar Gaddafi, was assassinated during clashes in Zintan.
Notable people Osama al-Juwaili (born 1961), politician Saif al-Islam Gaddafi (1972-2026), politician and son of Muammar Gaddafi
See also Tripolitania
References