Calm returns after overnight Tripoli militia clashes – Defence Ministry says it has enforced control, warns of readiness to take measures to ensure security

After overnight Tripoli militia clashes with Tripoli based government forces, the Tripoli based Ministry of Defence said in a statement today that it had ‘‘intervened on the ground through its official channels and was able to control the situation and enforce respect for the truce, leading to the withdrawal of the violating elements and their return to their previous positions’’.

The clashes took part in the Furnaj roundabout, the back entrance of Tripoli University Hospital, and south of it in Ain Zara and Naser University between Abdel Rauf Kara’s Special Deterrence Force (SDF / RADA) and the General Security Forces. There may have been clashes in other areas too.

It is unclear what sparked these latest clashes, but the involvement of the SDF / RADA militia suggests that this is a fallout or continuation of the clashes in May following the death of the commander of the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), Abdelghani Ghnewa Al-Kikly, and the SSA’s subsequent military disbanding using the Tripoli government’s army (444^th Combat Brigade). Following that disbanding, the 444^th clashed with the SDF / RADA.

A truce committee was subsequently set up to de-escalate the situation. Hence the Tripoli Defence Ministry’s reference to ‘‘enforce respect for the truce’’.

Tripoli Prime Minister Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba, who is also Defence Minister, has subsequently made it crystal clear in several statements of his intent to continue to disband all other militias, including the powerful Sug Il Juma based SDF / RADA militia.

The SDF / RADA controls Tripoli’s Mitiga airport, nominally under Tripoli government control, and the infamous Mitiga prison. The prison is accused by the international community of numerous human rights violations.

Here is the Defence Ministry’s statement in full.

‘‘Over the past few hours, the Ministry of Defence has monitored sudden field movements in some areas of the capital, in a clear violation of the ceasefire arrangements and approved security understandings.

Immediately upon monitoring these movements, the Ministry intervened on the ground through its official channels and was able to control the situation and enforce respect for the truce, leading to the withdrawal of the violating elements and their return to their previous positions.

The Ministry affirms its full commitment to the decisions of the Supreme Commander of the Libyan Army and to the tasks of the Interim Committee for Military and Security Arrangements, commending the discipline of its regular forces and their commitment to avoiding escalation.

The Ministry of Defence warns against the recurrence of such violations and affirms its readiness to take the necessary measures to ensure respect for security sovereignty and protect the process based on redeployment under the supervision of state institutions.’’

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