Tripoli: Tripoli's worst fighting in two years broke out between rival factions on Saturday, as a months-long political standoff descended into an urban war that threatened to escalate into a major conflict.
According to a health ministry source, 17 civilians were involved in 23 deaths in Saturday's fighting. The ministry had earlier reported that 87 people were injured.
After two years of relative peace, which led to a failed political process aimed at holding national elections, the ongoing battle for government control in the city will likely send Libya back into an all-out war.
In Libya, there is a power struggle between the National Unity Government (GNU) led by Abdulhamid al-Dabiba in Tripoli and Fati Bashga, a rival government formerly supported by parliament.
According to eyewitnesses, on Saturday, Bashaga's forces attempted to seize territory in Tripoli from several angles, but their main convoy turned and left for Misrata before arriving.
After the fighting subsided, Dabiba uploaded a video to the Internet in which he was on his way to meet the fighters in the city.
Fighting broke out overnight and escalated throughout the morning, with mortars, heavy machine guns and small arms fire being used at strategic locations. Shooting and explosions could be heard in the background as columns of black smoke rose over the Tripoli skyline.
By noon it seemed that Basha's army was approaching Tripoli from three sides. Locals reported fierce clashes in Janjor, a major access point for some pro-Bashagha forces in northwest Tripoli.
Witnesses in the Abu Salim district, south of Tripoli, heard lots of gunfire after a video went viral on social media, but Reuters was unable to verify that a strong pro-Bashagha commander attacked there.
According to an eyewitness, a main convoy of over 300 vehicles belonging to Bashagha left northeast for Tripoli along the coastal road. According to eyewitnesses, it went back to its Misrata base.
Turkey, which maintains a military presence near Tripoli and has used drone strikes to assist local forces to stop an eastern offensive in 2020, called for an immediate ceasefire and declared that "we will protect our Libyans". will take it". Standing with the brothers."
Abdulmenem Salem, a resident of central Tripoli, said, "It's terrible. The fight kept my family and I from sleeping. The sound was very loud and very terrible." If we had to leave immediately, we stayed up late. It's a terrible feeling.
In recent weeks, large armed groups supporting opposing sides in the political conflict in Libya have repeatedly rallied around Tripoli, moving military vehicle convoys through the city to achieve their objectives. Threatened to use force.
Ali, a 23-year-old student who did not give his last name, claimed that during the night, after shots were fired at their building, he and his family fled their apartment. He continued, "We could not survive and survive.
Since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in a NATO-backed insurgency in 2011, Libya has experienced little peace. In 2014, it broke into rival Eastern and Western factions to help regional powers. During the years of anarchy, Libya's oil production, a major prize for the warring parties, has often been cut.
The Eastern Parliament supported the offensive launched in 2019 by Commander Khalifa Hifter, which failed in 2020, resulting in a ceasefire and a UN-backed peace process.
The ceasefire included the establishment of Dabiba's GNU to rule the entirety of Libya and overseeing national elections planned for the previous December, but was canceled due to disagreements over the vote.
Parliament announced the end of Dabeba's term and named him Bashga to succeed him. Dabiba declared that only an election could trigger his resignation and that Parliament did not have the authority to do so.
In May, Bashagh attempted to enter Tripoli, resulting in a shootout and his expulsion from the city.
However, since then, several agreements have led to the reorganization of some armed factions within the main coalition engaged in the war near Tripoli.
After his 2019–20 offensive, Hifter still maintains close ties with the eastern-based parliament, and some Tripoli groups are still opposed to any coalition in which he participates.
According to a GNU statement, Basha-aligned fighters opened fire on a convoy in the capital Tripoli, while other pro-Basha units gathered outside the city, sparking recent clashes.
It accused Bashagha of abandoning talks to end the crisis. In a statement, Bashagha's government claimed that Dabiba had turned down his offers to hold talks and that Bashagha had never rejected talks. It did not directly address the claim that it was involved in the fighting.
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