Libya: Deadly clashes in Tripoli threaten all-out war
Eyewitnesses confirmed that forces allied with the government supported by the Libyan parliament moved into the city to try to seize power. The Ministry of Health said that at least 23 people were killed and 140 others were injured, adding that 64 families were evacuated from the areas surrounding the fighting, and the violence caused panic among the residents of Tripoli. Footage circulated via social media showed houses, government facilities and vehicles damaged by the fierce clashes. Other footage also showed the spread of militias and heavy exchange of fire in the night sky.
Random shelling
The United Nations Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) confirmed that the fighting caused medium and heavy indiscriminate bombardment in civilian-populated neighborhoods in Tripoli. The mission called for an immediate ceasefire, and called on all parties in Libya to refrain from using any form of hate speech and incitement to violence. Clashes took place between the Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade (LR) militia led by Haitham Tajouri, against another militia allied with Abdul Ghani Al-Kakuli, a notorious warlord known as “Ghniwa”, according to local media. Later on Saturday, more militias joined the fighting that spread in different areas of the capital.
Total war
Observers have confirmed that the ongoing fighting in the city could turn into an all-out war within two years of the state of peace, which led to a failed political process aiming to hold national elections. The months-long confrontation in power in Libya took place between the Tripoli-based government of national unity led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh against a rival led by Fathi Bashagha supported by the eastern parliament. “Clashes broke out overnight when one armed group in Tripoli attacked another base under another’s control, leading to hours of gunfire and explosions, and later on Saturday morning fighting intensified with small arms fire, heavy machine guns and mortar rounds scattered in various central areas.” Columns of black smoke rose through the Tripoli skyline, with echoes of gunfire and explosions in the air.
Shocking testimonies
Several eyewitnesses working in the area of clashes said that the conflict started in Janzour on the coastal road west of Tripoli, which is a possible access point for some forces allied to Bashagha. An eyewitness confirmed that a convoy of more than 300 Bashagha cars started from Zlitan, about 150 kilometers east of Tripoli, along the coastal road, where Bashagha has been living for weeks in Misrata near Zlitan, and to the south of Tripoli. Witnesses near Abu Salim said that the area witnessed heavy gunfire and several hospitals and health centers were also shelled.” Abdel Moneim Salem, a resident of central Tripoli, confirmed this, adding that it was horrible, and that my family and I could not sleep because of the clashes. The sound was very loud and very frightening, and we stayed awake if we had to leave quickly.
