Libya: Tribes unite against Turks and unconventional battles

Hussam Al-Haddad

On Sunday, January 5, 2020, the Libyan Air Force launched raids on Al-Wefaq camps and concentrations in Tajoura, east of the capital, Tripoli, targeting the fiercest of them, the headquarters of the security militia.

The aerial bombardment also targeted militia sites in the Bir al-Asta area of ​​Tajura.

The “Daman” militia is one of the most powerful and violent militias in Tripoli, and it is one of the largest militias in the Tajura region east of the capital, which includes most of the Tajura militants later, and operates under the banner of the Al-Wefaq government.

Facing the Turkish invasion

This comes after Major General Ahmed al-Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan army, announced that the army and the people are ready to face the Turkish invasion, indicating that the battle in Libya is no longer a traditional battle after it has become against countries that support militias, especially Turkey.

Al-Mismari considered in a press conference Saturday evening, that the Libyan people sent several messages confirming that they left their army and will support all fronts, adding that the Libyans are ready today to repel the Turkish invasion, noting that all military areas worked within the framework of rebuilding and supporting the Libyan armed forces.

The Libyan army spokesman pointed out that “the decisions of the Turkish parliament announce the rejection of the Turkish invasion, and confirm the refusal to use Libyan lands for any other purpose.”

Al-Mesmari sent a message to the Libyans in Tripoli, in which he said: “The Turkish intervention is not for your sake, but for the sake of controlling Libya, the gateway to Africa to Europe and the planting of terrorist organizations to threaten neighboring countries.”

He said that the civilian state they are talking about in Tripoli needs an army to achieve its goals, adding: “Now there are extremists and militias in Tripoli, and Turkish support is not for the Libyans, but for the sake of returning Libya to be an Ottoman colony.”

He continued: “We will not neglect the sacrifices of grandparents, the battle continues, and our forces are capable of decisiveness, and all we care about is our concern not to use heavy weapons in residential areas, and we are keen to preserve human rights inside Tripoli.”

He explained that the battle has become a spectrum for the Libyan people, sending a message to those who describe them as those who sold Libya to foreigners.

Tribes unite

In the same context, and in confirmation of Al-Mesmari’s speech, the tribes in eastern Libya called on their sons to join the fighting axes in Tripoli and to use all means to support the war effort after the Turkish Parliament granted authorization to its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to intervene militarily in Libya.

The media quoted the Tarhuna Sheikhs Council as saying in a statement that “the hour of work and the struggle for the sovereignty of the homeland has passed,” adding that “the Turkish colonial heritage, which our fathers knew of killing, looting, and backwardness, came back after they begged him and harnessed his remains from the people of his country in our country.”

The Council called on the sons of the Libyan Arab tribes to stand together against the “Turkish occupation”, describing it as “the historical enemy who killed and annihilated many Arab tribes and caused us hundreds of years of delay and was a major reason in exchanging colonial roles over Libya.”

The council added in its statement that “the Erdogan government will not exclude any of the real Libyans, whether it is here or there .. Do not delay and do not stand neutral, for today there is no room for the logic of neutrality … Either you are or you are not.”

For their part, the tribes of the Libyan city of Misurata announced, in a statement, after their leaders met in the eastern region, their support for the Libyan National Army and their rejection of all alliances that the Presidential Council is conducting with Turkey.