Initial assault on the city

At 7:30 am local time on 19 March, Gaddafi's forces began artillery shelling the city. At around 9:00 am local time they entered the city from west and south with tanks.^[14] Rebel armoured units engaged the initial loyalist armoured column at around 10:00 am.^[15] Twelve T-72 tanks spearheaded the main thrust into the city, and by 10:30 am, it seemed the Benghazi was in danger of falling to Pro Gaddafi forces. A rebel tank, aging and rusted, opened fire on the lead pro Gaddafi tank, damaging it and forced its occupants to abandon the vehicle. The tanks behind the lead vehicle all began a withdrawal from the area, under rebel fire, and retreated apparently to the city limits.^{[citation needed]}

By 2:30 pm local time the opposition fighters had repelled the first wave of loyalist forces out of the city. During the daytime battles, a rebel MiG-23 crashed to the ground in the outskirts of Benghazi.^[16] The pilot, Colonel Mohammed Mbarak al-Okaili,^[16] remained in the plane until moments before the crash before ejecting but was reported not to have survived the crash.^[17] The cause of the crash was unclear, but may have been a catastrophic engine failure or friendly fire from rebel air-defences that had mistaken it for a loyalist plane.^[18] This prompted rebels to use loudspeakers, mainly from mosques, urging not to attack the planes.^{[citation needed]}

France intervenes, loyalists retreat

At around 4:00 pm local time, French fighter jets entered Libyan airspace and flew over Benghazi, conducting aerial reconnaissance missions and preparing to intervene.^[14] Then, at 4:45 pm, coalition intervention began as a French fighter jet fired on and destroyed several loyalist armored vehicles.^[14] Later, Al Jazeera reported that French fighter jets had destroyed at least four of the regime's force's tanks; however, this was not confirmed by France.^[19]

On the morning of the next day, air attacks were conducted against a loyalist tank column from 4:00 am for two hours. It was confirmed by a Reuters reporter that at least seven tanks and two armored personnel carriers were destroyed in the French air strikes.^[11][20]

Admiral Mullen of the United States announced on 20 March, that the international coalition had stopped the regime's progression on Benghazi.^[13]