For decades, the West and Libya have been locked in a contentious dance, marked by military skirmishes and simmering tensions. The 2011 Libyan Civil War further strained these relations, making Libya a thorn in the West’s side. This admission acknowledges that Gaddafi’s demise unleashed a torrent of chaos and conflict that Libya still grapples with today. Libya’s Divided DestinyPost-Gaddafi Libya was marred by division, with rival administrations taking root in the east and west. Italy’s Wily Pivot: The ENI DealRecall Georgia Meloni’s rendezvous with Khalifa Haftar, culminating in an $8-billion pact between the National Oil Corporation of Libya and Italy’s energy giant, ENI.

Share Comment on this story CommentCAIRO — One of Libya’s rival prime ministers warned Thursday that his government would not tolerate any further militia fighting, days after the year’s bloodiest bout of clashes rocked the capital, Tripoli, killing at least 45 people. AdvertisementDuring his 45-minute speech, the Tripoli-based prime minister also threatened to introduce “other measures” against the two militia groups if the fighting escalated but provided no further detail. Over that time, militia groups have grown wealthy and powerful, particularly in Tripoli and the west of the country. The 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force are two of the largest militias operating in Tripoli. Both have previously been key backers of Dbeibah, joining forces in May 2022 to thwart an attempt by a former rival prime minister from the east to the country to enter the capital.

TRIPOLI: A Libyan militia leader whose detention sparked clashes that killed 55 people in the capital Tripoli this week has been released, a military official said Thursday.Gun battles had raged on the streets of Tripoli from Monday night through Tuesday after 444 Brigade leader Mahmoud Hamza was apprehended by the rival Al-Radaa Force.Hamza "was released on Wednesday night and returned to his headquarters south of Tripoli", an official at army headquarters in western Libya told. "He was released under a government-sponsored ceasefire agreement" which also provides for the "withdrawal of fighters from the front lines", said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.Videos circulated on social media on Wednesday night showed Hamza dressed in military fatigues and surrounded by his fighters at the Tekbali barracks south of the Libyan capital.Fighting broke out in Tripoli after Hamza's detention on Monday, killing 55 people, wounding 146 and forcing the closure of the capital's only civilian airport -- the worst armed clashes seen in Libya for a year.The two armed groups are among the myriad of militias that have vied for power in the North African country since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.A period of relative stability had led the United Nations to express hope for delayed elections to be held this year.Calm returned to Tripoli and the Mitiga airport reopened after the ceasefire agreement reached late Tuesday between Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah's government and a social council in the Al-Radaa stronghold of Soug el-Joumaa in the capital's southeast. "The situation is stable, with police patrols having been deployed" in the areas that had seen fighting, allowing people to move around, the military official said.Libya is split between Dbeibah's UN-backed government in the west and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

CAIRO - 17 August 2023: The Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has unveiled plans to upgrade the Sallum land border crossing with Libya to facilitate trade movement between the two countries. During a tour on Wednesday in the Marsa Matrouh Governorate, the Egyptian leader stated that a logistics zone spanning 250 – 300 acres will be established adjacent to the Sallum port to serve trade with Libya. President al-Sisi mentioned that Egypt has been working on the development of the Sallum crossing for the past four years. Moreover, al-Sisi confirmed that the costs incurred in developing roads from the Marsa Matrouh Governorate to foster trade with Libya were quite high. Nonetheless, he highlighted that these developments will bring considerable benefits to the residents of the governorate.

Fierce clashes between rival militias in the Libyan capital Tripoli have raised fears about what the increasingly powerful paramilitaries operating there want. Mahmoud Hamza, head of the 444 Brigade, was seized by the Special Deterrence Force as he tried to travel from SDF-controlled Mitiga airport in Tripoli. The SDF handed Hamza over to a third faction which then released him to the 444 Brigade. Mitiga Airport, the city’s main airport, which was closed due to fighting also reopened yesterday. Libya is going through a political chaos after its long-serving ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011.

The fighting appears to be the most intense to shake Tripoli this year. In addition to the 27 deaths, over 100 people were injured, Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center said early on WednesdayA vehicle destroyed in the two days of fighting. Pic/APClashes between rival militias in Libya’s capital killed at least 27 people and left residents trapped in their homes on Tuesday, unable to escape the violence, authorities said. The fighting appears to be the most intense to shake Tripoli this year. In addition to the 27 deaths, over 100 people were injured, Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center said early on Wednesday.

The death toll from armed clashes in the Libyan capital of Tripoli that erupted late on Monday has risen to 55, officials said on Wednesday, Anadolu news agency reported. The Emergency Medicine and Support Centre said 146 people were also injured in the fighting between the Special Deterrence Force affiliated with the Presidential Council and the 444th Brigade of the National Unity Government. “The centre’s crews were able to evacuate 234 families from the areas of the clashes,” it said. The clashes erupted after Mahmoud Hamza, commander of the 444th Brigade, was arrested by the Special Deterrence Force at the Mitiga International Airport. OPINION: Tripoli latest clashes: triggers and potential consequences

Tripoli’s worst armed clashes in a year have killed 55 people and wounded 146, Libyan media reported Wednesday, as a truce took hold. The clashes were triggered by the detention of the head of the 444 Brigade, Colonel Mahmud Hamza, by the rival Al-Radaa Force on Monday, an interior ministry official said. In May, the two armed groups had clashed for hours in Tripoli, also after the arrest of a 444 Brigade member. Human Rights Watch Libya researcher Hanan Saleh expressed outrage that the capital’s armed groups continued to settle their differences with heavy weaponry in residential areas without being held accountable. The 444 Brigade is affiliated with Libya’s defence ministry and is reputed to be the North African country’s most disciplined.

TRIPOLI - Gun battles between two leading armed groups in the Libyan capital Tripoli have killed 27 people and wounded 106, med­ics said Wednesday, as a tentative truce took hold. Three field hospitals and a fleet of around 60 ambulances had been deployed to the area after the fight­ing broke out. The clashes were triggered by the deten­tion of the head of the 444 Brigade, Colonel Mahmud Hamza, by the rival Al-Radaa Force on Monday, an interior ministry official said. In a televised an­nouncement, the coun­cil said a ceasefire would follow the trans­fer of the force’s com­mander and late Tues­day the fighting abated. Overnight, Dbeibah visited the southeast­ern suburb of Ain Zara, which saw some of the heaviest fighting on Tuesday, accompanied by Interior Minister Imed Trabelsi.

Libyan clashes: According to the spokesperson of Tripoli’s Emergency Medicine and Support Centre, the death toll from fighting in Libya’s capital on Monday and Tuesday was 55 dead and 146 injured. The confrontations were the bloodiest in Tripoli in years, and they ended late Tuesday when one side gave over the head of a rival faction, whose seizure had sparked the fighting, to a neutral force. The clashes began on Monday, following the detention of the 444 Brigade’s commander, Colonel Mahmoud Hamza, by the rival Special Deterrence Force, according to an interior ministry spokesman. Since the NATO-backed rebellion that overthrew Gaddafi, Libya has seen more than a decade of intermittent violence. Also read: 11 killed in explosion in Dominican Republic

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CAIRO — The death toll in this week’s clashes between rival militias in Libya’s capital rose to 45 on Wednesday as troops fanned out across Tripoli to restore calm after a 24-hour bout of fighting that was the city’s most intense violence this year. The clashes erupted late on Monday between militiamen from the 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, and continued into Tuesday evening. Hamza was later released as part of deal aimed at quelling the violence, the reports said. The death toll rose Wednesday to 45, up from the 27 dead reported Tuesday, as more casualties were confirmed, said Malek Merset, the spokesperson for Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center. Libyan security forces patrolled the streets and fanned out across Tripoli on Wednesday.

The clashes with rocket launchers and machine-guns followed the detention of the 444 Brigade head, Colonel Mahmud Hamza, by the rival Al-Radaa Force on Monday, an interior ministry official said. In August last year, 32 people were killed and 159 wounded in Tripoli during battles between divided Libya’s two rival administrations. The interior ministry put in place a security plan to deploy officers to battleground districts to oversee the truce announced between the two sides. The 444 Brigade affiliated with Libya’s defence ministry controls the southern suburbs of Tripoli and other areas. The Al-Radaa force is a powerful ultra-conservative militia that acts as the capital’s police force and controls central and eastern Tripoli, Mitiga air base, the civilian airport and a prison.

CAIRO (AP) — The death toll in this week's clashes between rival militias in Libya's capital rose to 45 on Wednesday as troops fanned out across Tripoli to restore calm after a 24-hour bout of fighting that was the city's most intense violence this year. The clashes erupted late on Monday between militiamen from the 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, and continued into Tuesday evening. Tensions flared after Mahmoud Hamza, a senior commander of the 444 brigade, was allegedly detained by the rival group at an airport in Tripoli, according to local media reports. Last August, clashes between two other militia active in the capital killed at least 23 people. “No progress whatsoever was made on those fronts.”The 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force are two of the largest militias operating in Tripoli.

CAIRO (AP) — Libyan security forces patrolled the streets and fanned out across Tripoli on Wednesday, a day after clashes between rival militias killed at least 27 people in the country’s capital, authorities said. The clashes erupted late on Monday between militiamen from the 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, and continued into Tuesday evening. Tensions flared after Mahmoud Hamza, a senior commander of the 444 brigade, was allegedly detained by the rival group at an airport in Tripoli, according to local media reports. Amid the chaos, militias grew in wealth and power, particularly in Tripoli and the west of the country. “No progress whatsoever was made on those fronts.”The 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force are two of the largest militias operating in Tripoli.