Armed clashes broke out between a militia affiliated with the Ministry of Interior of the outgoing Government of National Unity and another militia affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, in the city of Zawiya, west of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
According to local sources, armed confrontations broke out between the “Al-Kabwat” militia, and another armed group led by Riad Belhaj inside residential neighborhoods on Thursday evening, and the situation is still tense, due to the shooting of the brother of the Belhaj militia commander.
The clashes resulted in casualties, and video clips circulating on social media documented shooting between the two groups, and the sound of hand grenades was widely heard. While efforts and efforts to calm the situation continue, the situation remains tense in the city.
Al-Zawiya, which is controlled by the armed militia, is witnessing increasing security chaos and an escalation in violence, especially murders and kidnappings, which raises concerns among local residents.
On more than one occasion, popular demonstrations took place in front of the city’s Security Directorate in protest against the deteriorating security situation and denouncing the weakness of the official security services and the absence of the government’s role in exchange for the armed militia’s dominance and control over vital facilities.
This security chaos is clear evidence of the inability of the Dbeibeh government to rein in the armed militia, which is considered the main actor in the escalating violence in the country, and this failure clearly demonstrates the government’s inability to reform the security sector.
Under these circumstances, there does not appear to be any horizon for the return of stability to Libya, due to the ongoing political stalemate and the disruption of negotiations between the main Libyan leaders, which hinder the achievement of any progress, despite the efforts made to remove the obstacles that prevent this.
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