Opération Harmattan

Opération Harmattan
	Part of 2011 military intervention in Libya
	; Remains of three Palmaria heavy howitzers of the Gaddafi forces destroyed by French warplanes at the south-western outskirts of Benghazi on 19 March 2011.
Date	19 March 2011 – 31 March 2011
Location	Libya
Result	French and NATO victory/Effective no-fly zone established; Operations handed over to NATO Operation Unified Protector
Belligerents
France	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Commanders and leaders
Nicolas Sarkozy; François Fillon; Édouard Guillaud; Jean-Paul Paloméros; Pierre-François Forissier;	Muammar Gaddafi; (de facto Commander-in-Chief); Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr; (Minister of Defense); Khamis al-Gaddafi; (Khamis Brigade Commander); Ali Sharif al-Rifi; (Air Force Commander);
Strength
See deployed forces	See Libyan Armed Forces
Casualties and losses
None	Multiple tanks, aircraft, artillery units and ground targets destroyed
	Unknown, unverified claim by Gaddafi-controlled Libyan state media of 48 civilians killed, 150 wounded as a result of all UN operations; 40 civilians killed (in Tripoli; Vatican claim)

Opération Harmattan was the French participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. It was named for the Harmattan, which are hot dry winds that blow over the Sahara, mostly between November and March. The United States' counterpart to this was Operation Odyssey Dawn, the Canadian counterpart was Operation Mobile and the British counterpart was Operation Ellamy. The no-fly zone was proposed during the Libyan Civil War to prevent government forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi from carrying out air attacks on anti-Gaddafi forces. Several countries prepared to take immediate military action at a conference in Paris on 19 March 2011.

French Dassault Rafale multirole fighters began reconnaissance missions on 19 March and were the first among the coalition to attack Libyan forces, destroying four tanks.