Fierce clashes have erupted between rival factions in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, with reports of many dead, amid growing concern that a political standoff could spark fresh conflict. Clashes broke out early Friday in the central district near the Radisson Blu hotel, an area home to many government and international agencies and diplomatic missions, with military vehicles mobilizing around Zawiyat al-Dahmani. Fighting took place on Thursday night in the city’s Ain Zara area between units of the Presidential Council’s security force and the Special Interdiction Force, or RADA. Residents of Tripoli said a man and a child were killed in the fighting. Local news, citing medical sources, later reported that five people had been killed. Osama Ali, a spokesman for Libya’s Ambulance and Emergency Services, said on Friday that the death toll could rise as reports came in from other hospitals in the region. The 444th Brigade of the Libyan army intervened to stop the fighting and took positions in several areas where the clashes took place, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter. A statement from the Presidential Council called on both sides to cease hostilities, adding that government and military prosecutors would conduct investigations. Last month, clashes between two powerful militias aligned with rival prime ministers vying for power rocked Tripoli, injuring several people in the process.
Aggravation of the situation
Oil-rich Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled after four decades in power. The situation has worsened since March, when the eastern Tobruk-based House of Representatives appointed a new government led by former interior minister Fathi Bashaga. Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, leader of the UN-backed Tripoli-based government of national unity, insists he will only cede power to a government that comes through an “elected parliament”, raising fears that Libya could slide back into civil war . Both prime ministers have support from armed factions that control territory in the capital and other western Libyan cities. In recent weeks, political changes have signaled a possible realignment between power brokers and armed factions that could spark new fighting.
