Intense clashes rocked the Libyan capital, Tripoli, for a second consecutive night and continued into Wednesday, following the killing of a key militia leader on Monday, according to witnesses.
The renewed fighting may strengthen the position of Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, prime minister of the UN-recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) and an ally of Turkey.
Since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has faced ongoing instability. The country split in 2014 between eastern and western factions, with major warfare halting after a 2020 truce.
Power Struggle Intensifies in Tripoli Amid Shifting Militia Alliances
A major energy exporter, Libya is also an important way station for migrants heading to Europe and its conflict has drawn in foreign powers including Turkey, Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Its main oil facilities are located in southern and eastern Libya, far from the current fighting in Triopli.
While eastern Libya has been dominated for a decade by commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA), control in Tripoli and western Libya has been splintered among numerous armed factions.
Dbeibah on Tuesday ordered the dismantling of what he called irregular armed groups.
That announcement followed Monday’s killing of major militia chief Abdulghani Kikli, widely known as Ghaniwa, and the sudden defeat of his Stabilization Support Apparatus (SSA) group by factions aligned with Dbeibah.
The seizure of SSA territory in Libya by the Dbeibah-allied factions, the 444 and 111 Brigades, indicated a major concentration of power in the fragmented capital, leaving the Special Deterrence Force (Rada) as the last big faction not closely tied to the prime minister.
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