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Clashes between supporters of Libya's 2 gov'ts, deaths reported

July 22, 2022 at 9:57 am

Libyan National Accord Government troops clash with eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar’s troops in Tripoli, Libya on 10 April, 2019 [Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency]

Intense clashes erupted between rival factions in Libya early today with reports of several people killed amid growing concern that a political standoff could prompt renewed conflict, Reuters reported.

Reuters journalist saw clashes in the central district near the Radisson Blu hotel, an area where several government and international agencies and diplomatic missions are based, as well as military vehicles mobilised around Zawiyat Dahmani.

Witnesses also said there was fighting in the Asbaa area and in Ain Zara. Tripoli residents said a man and a child had been killed. Local news reports, citing medical sources, later said that five people had been killed.

Libya has been teetering on the edge of chaos for months after the eastern-based parliament rejected the unity government in Tripoli, which was installed through a UN-backed process last year, and appointed a rival administration.

READ: Libya resumes crude oil exports after 3-month pause

Both prime ministers have support from among the armed factions that control territory in the capital and other western Libyan cities.

The parliament-appointed Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, has been unable to move into Tripoli because groups in the capital backing the Government of National Unity (GNU) there and its Prime Minister, Abdulhamid Dbeibah, have prevented his entry.

Over recent weeks, political shifts have pointed to a possible realignment among power brokers and armed factions that could prompt renewed fighting.

This week Bashagha visited the key western city of Misrata – the hometown of both him and Dbeibah – for the first time since his appointment by parliament. The move led to mobilisations in the city both by groups backing and opposing him.