Libyan armed factions clashed on the western outskirts of Tripoli late Friday and early Saturday, as forces loyal to Abdulhamid al-government Dbeibah’s strengthened their grip on the capital.
Fighting broke out in Warshafala, a district west of Tripoli that has seen repeated clashes in the 11 years since a NATO-backed uprising ousted veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The clashes, as well as a major pro-Dbeibah group seizing a military headquarters in southern Tripoli, come just a week after Libya experienced its bloodiest week in two years, with several rival factions fighting in and around the capital.
Several groups that had allied with Dbeibah’s rival for prime minister, former interior minister Fathi Bashagha, who has been appointed by the eastern-based parliament to lead a new government, were dislodged by last week’s fighting.
The two men had been at odds for months, with Libya’s powerful eastern faction supporting Bashagha and the numerous factions controlling Tripoli and the rest of the northwest divided.
Following the fighting last week, both Bashagha and Dbeibah visited Turkey, which aided the now-divided western factions in repelling an eastern assault in 2020.
Turkey maintains a military presence around Tripoli, including drones that could play a critical role in determining the outcome of any major battle if it decides to support one side or the other.
Unconfirmed reports surfaced last week that drones were used against Bashagha-supporting factions.
Diplomacy to end Libya’s crisis has stalled. Late Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed a new envoy to Libya, but with the United Nations Security Council divided, it is unclear how much clout Abdoulaye Bathily will have in the role.
A witness said mortars were fired in Warshafana, a district of farmland, villages, and patches of urban sprawl between Tripoli and the western city of al-Zawiya, late Friday and early Saturday.
During last week’s fighting, a major Bashagha-aligned faction based in Zawiya was said to be among the groups repulsed from the capital’s outskirts.
A powerful faction that supported Dbeibah during last week’s fighting has taken over a security headquarters in the southern Tripoli district of Ain Zara. On Saturday morning, fighters and vehicles bearing its insignia stood guard, with checkpoints set up nearby.
