LIBYA’S CAPITAL TRIPOLI ROCKED BY FIGHTING BETWEEN RIVAL MILITIAS

Sat 10 June 2022:

According to local media, clashes between armed factions have erupted in Libya’s capital, as the country suffers from a brutal power struggle.

On Friday night, heavy gunfire and explosions ricocheted over numerous Tripoli districts, while footage broadcast by local media and shared on social media showed citizens fleeing heavily populated locations.

Four civilians were injured in the clashes, according to medical sources.

The violence involved two powerful militias from western Libya: the Nawasi Brigade — a militia linked to politician Fathi Bashagha – and the Stability Support Force, which supports interim premier Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

No motive for the fighting was immediately apparent, but it is the latest violence to rock the country as two rival prime ministers vie for power.

After a 2011 revolt toppled longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, political infighting to fill the power vacuum has plagued oil-rich Libya.

Last month, Bashagha attempted to seize power by force, sparking pre-dawn clashes between armed groups supporting him and those backing Dbeibah.

Dbeibah was appointed under a troubled United Nations-led peace process early last year to lead a transition to elections set for December 2021, but the vote was indefinitely postponed.

In February, parliament appointed Bashagha, a one-time interior minister, to take over, arguing that Dbeibah’s mandate had ended.

But Dbeibah has insisted he will only relinquish power to an elected administration.

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