Ceasefire takes hold after renewed gun battles in Libya

Tripoli — The worst fighting in Libya's capital for years calmed on Wednesday after the government announced a ceasefire, while there was no immediate statement from authorities on how many people had been killed.

Clashes broke out late on Monday after the killing of a militia leader. After calming on Tuesday morning, the fighting reignited overnight, with battles rocking districts across the entire city.

“Regular forces, in co-ordination with the relevant security authorities, have begun taking the necessary measures to ensure calm, including the deployment of neutral units,” the defence ministry said.

The ministry said the “neutral units” were from the police force, which does not carry heavy weapons.

After the fighting, burnt-out cars littered the streets in some areas, and nearby buildings were pocked with bullet marks.

This week’s clashes had appeared to consolidate the power of Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, prime minister of the divided country’s government of national unity (GNU) and an ally of Turkey.

However, any prolonged fighting within Tripoli risks drawing in factions from outside the capital, potentially leading to a wider escalation between Libya’s many armed players after years of relative calm.

The main fighting on Wednesday was between the Dbeibah-aligned 444 Brigade and the Special Deterrence Force (Rada), the last major armed Tripoli faction not currently in his camp, the English-language Libyan Observer reported.

Fighting also erupted in western areas of Tripoli that have historically been a gateway for armed factions from Zawiya, a town to the west of the capital.

Dbeibah on Tuesday ordered the dismantling of what he called irregular armed groups.

That announcement followed Monday’s killing of militia chief Abdulghani Kikli, widely known as Ghaniwa, and the sudden defeat of his Stabilisation 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 Rada as the last big faction not closely tied to the prime minister.

Residents trapped

Tripoli residents trapped in their homes by the fighting voiced horror at the sudden eruption of violence, which had followed weeks of growing tensions among armed factions.

The UN Libya mission UNSMIL said it was “deeply alarmed by the escalating violence in densely populated neighbourhoods of Tripoli” and called for a ceasefire.

Libya has had little stability since a 2011 Nato-backed uprising ousted longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi. The country split in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions, though an outbreak of major warfare paused with a truce in 2020.

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.

A major energy exporter, Libya is also an important way station for migrants heading to Europe, while 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 Tripoli. Engineers at several oilfields and export terminals told Reuters output remained unaffected by the clashes.

However, Sirte Oil Company — a subsidiary of the National Oil Corporation — said it was suspending land transport to the west, including Tripoli, until stability was restored.

Reuters