Today marks the 88th anniversary of the martyrdom of Omar Al-Mukhtar who is considered as a symbol of resistance for his heroic steadfastness in resisting the Italian invasion. Several Libyan cities celebrate the anniversary every year on 16 September, which is declared as a national holiday.

Omar al-Mukhtar was born in Tobruk in 1858. He led the resistance in eastern Libya against the Italian occupiers for twenty years until he was captured on September 11, 1931, after his horse was shot and fell to the ground in a clash near Ain el-Louf area.

On September 15 of the same year, a mock trial was conducted for Al-Mukhtar before being executed on September 16, 1931, in Suluq town, south of Benghazi.

A statement by Omar Al-Mukhtar in his final days captured the tongues and ears of millions of Arabs and Muslims, ''We know no surrender, we win or we die.''

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