forces recapture Derna.
In 2007, American troops in Iraq uncovered a list of foreign fighters for the Iraqi insurgency. Of the 112 Libyans on the list, 52 had come from Derna. Derna has the reputation of being the most pious Muslim city in Libya.
Following mass protests on 18 February 2011, the city came under the control of the National Transitional Council, breaking from the government of Muammar Gaddafi. The city was never retaken before Gaddafi's ouster from Tripoli and the establishment of a new government
