No control: GNA unable to maintain security in Tripoli after the militias are bored

Mustafa Kamel

The militia conflict in western Libya between the Tajoura Lions militias and the security militias loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) has revealed the extent of the latter’s inability to achieve security, as well as the extent of weapons spreading under the control of armed militias and the expansion of their influence under GNA cover. These conflicts therefore represent a great embarrassment for the government of Fayez al-Sarraj and his allies at home and abroad.

Security weakness

These conflicts therefore represent a great embarrassment for the government of Fayez al-Sarraj and his allies at home and abroad, proving what the Libyan National Army (LNA) and a number of regional and international powers have said regarding there being no hope for a sustainable political solution in light of the lack of focus on achieving the security solution, which mainly entails dismantling the militias and collecting the weapons spread throughout western Libya.

In the same context, clashes were renewed in the suburb of Tajoura, confirming that the project to integrate the militias into a government apparatus under the name of the Libyan National Guard is an unpredictable adventure that the Brotherhood and their Turkish and Qatari allies are pushing towards, especially since the elements of these militias have no willingness to submit to the law or to follow discipline as an official institution, given that they gain more through lawlessness than they would under the government.

Ceasefire

On the other hand, the UN Mission in Libya called for an immediate ceasefire of the hostilities in Tajoura, noting that these clashes confirm once again the urgent need to reform the country’s security sector. The mission urged all parties to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law and added that it is following up on the clashes that took place between two armed groups in Tajoura, which resulted in damage to private property and endangering the lives of civilians.

Despite GNA Defense Minister Salah Eddine al-Namrush’s decision to dissolve the two rival militias in Tajoura, this decision will not find its way to implementation, given that the influence of the militias is much stronger than the government militia. The GNA tried during the past months to dissolve some militias in Tripoli and Zawiya, but it then retreated from doing so after it became clear that there are existing alliances between some militias against others and that a confrontation with them would lead to a civil war that the authorities in Tripoli do not want to enter, as this would prove once again that the LNA’s position calling for the dissolution of the militias is correct.

Meanwhile, the head of the GNA-affiliated Libyan Media Foundation, Mohamed Bayou, highlighted that the decisions are worthless without a deterrent force capable of imposing security and law enforcement. As long as there is someone who carries weapons, the final word will be for him, he said, explaining that “There is no state without a monopoly on violence, no state without a police and army,” meaning that they are the only ones capable of imposing security and stability in the capital.

The Daman militia in Tajoura refused to comply with Nimrush’s orders for an immediate ceasefire, confirming in a statement that it is defending itself.

The militia conflict that broke out on Friday, September 25 between the militias of the Tajoura region and the GNA-affiliated security militias in Tripoli has led to the transformation of Libya’s west into a battleground for money and influence, resulting in deaths and injuries, as well as inflicting damage to private property. This made Sarraj think of using the terrorist Salah Badi, who arrived at the head of an armed convoy consisting of 30 vehicles, in an attempt to put pressure on the militias to accept a ceasefire.