Tripoli’s clashes have implications for Libya’s future

Mahmud al-Batakoshi

Libyan capital Tripoli has witnessed bloody clashes in the past few days.

These clashes gave insights into the crisis suffered by Libya. They also revealed control by terrorist militias on the Libyan scene.

In a way, this control stands behind the failure of Libyan institutions to impose security and stability in this country.

Nightmare

The aforementioned clashes confirm that terrorist groups have become a nightmare for the Libyan people because of the frequent violent incidents between them, especially in the light of foreign intervention and the presence of mercenaries.

All these factors have become an obstacle to ending the violence, finding political solutions and moving forward towards the implementation of the roadmap.

They also make the situation and the future of Libya uncertain, in general.

International relations specialist, Gamal Abdel Hamid, said violent confrontations and clashes taking place in Libya would restore the international and regional momentum of the Libyan file.

“This will open the door for new arrangements to prevent the country from sliding into a new civil war,” he told The Reference.

“This is especially true with the recent clashes leaving hundreds of people dead and injured behind,” he added.

He explained that the clashes in Tripoli had raised international and regional concern.

This, he said, was why the UN mission to Libya took the initiative to call for an immediate cessation of violence and an end to violent clashes between parties to the conflict.

He added that the embassies of the US, Britain and France in Tripoli demanded an immediate suspension of the clashes.

“They also called for preserving the gains of the past period and the state’s stability,” Abdel Hamid said.

He stressed that these clashes are not the first between the two parties.

“They will not be the last either,” he warned.

Abdel Hamid referred to previous confrontations between the same parties, the latest of which was in May 2023 when the Deterrence Service arrested one of the leaders of Brigade 444.

He said these clashes were the most violent since the beginning of 2023.

Armed elements, he said, used heavy and medium weapons, something that refutes remarks made by Prime Minister of the Libyan National Unity Government Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh about his ability to extend his control over the Libyan scene.

“These confrontations also revealed the fragility of Libya’s stability,” Abdel Hamid said.