In Tripoli, militant “Mohamed Mohamed Mahmoud Ben Dardaf” (aka Al-Babour) from the al-Samoud Brigade was killed Saturday in a clash against the Libyan National Army in the Tripoli International Airport Road. The Libyan National Army (LNA) denied responsibility for the attack on Rixos hotel in Tripoli which was hit with rockets on early Friday. The Rixos hotel is a home to several members of the House of Representatives whom boycotted parliamentary sessions and opposed LNA’s military operation in the capital.
In Zawiya, an armed conflict occurred between pro-government militias in western Libya over the delivery of Turkey’s arms shipment, London based pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Sunday.
On the international level, the Russian special envoy to Libya Lev Dengov said Khalifa Haftar’s attack on Tripoli had stalled and he can’t take the Libyan capital. Moscow believes that the Libyan crisis should be resolved peacefully and it does not intend to support or “greenlight” any side to the conflict, according to Dengov.
GHARYAN
- the Mayor of Gharyan, Yusuf Bdiri, described the security situation in the city as dire, confirming the registration of a number of violations against the residents, including practices of harassment against citizens in checkpoints established by Haftar’s forces within the city [Libya Observer, 22.05.2019].
TRIPOLI
- militant “Mohamed Mohamed Mahmoud Ben Dardaf” (aka Al-Babour) from the al-Samoud Brigade was killed Saturday in a clash against the Libyan National Army in the Tripoli International Airport Road. He was killed while fighting in the ranks of the Fayez al-Sirraj government under the leadership of the internationally sanctioned militant Salah Badi. Ben Dardaf was mourned by several accounts on Facebook close to Ansar al-Sharia extremist organization, as well as a number of his colleagues who fled from Benghazi to Misrata. The so-called “Al-Wefaq Battalion”, which was recently founded by several former fighters of the “Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council” extremist organization, also announced the killing of Al-Babour [Address Libya, 25.05.2019];
- the Libyan Army forces under the command of the Presidential Council’s government has repelled an attack by the forces of Khalifa Haftar on Naqliyah camp on the Airport Road and Yarmouk camp in southern Tripoli. Haftar’s forces attacked Saturday morning the forces of the Libyan Army from different fighting axes, entering Ahyaa Al-Bariya and Naqliyah camp for a short time before being repelled by the Libyan army forces, leaving behind military and human losses [Libya Observer, 25.05.2019];
- the Libyan National Army (LNA) denied responsibility for the attack on Rixos hotel in Tripoli which was hit with rockets on early Friday. The Rixos hotel is a home to several members of the House of Representatives whom boycotted parliamentary sessions and opposed LNA’s military operation in the capital. The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) quickly pointed the figure of blame at LNA, accusing it of “targeting the landmarks of civil state” [Address Libya, 25.05.2019];
- the Libyan National Army (LNA) conducted airstrikes late Friday evening targeting the positions of militias of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). According to a military source, the night raids hit sites in Mashro’u Al-Mouz area where heavy rocket artillery of the militias are located. Violent clashes and mutual bombardment between the LNA and militias allied to GNA continue in several hubs in the southern suburbs of the capital. Since last April, the LNA has been trying to liberate Tripoli from armed militias which dominated the capital since 2011 [Address Libya, 24.05.2019];
- the Commander of the Western Region Operations Room of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Major General Abdel Salam al-Hassi, responded to news of LNA forces retreat and allegations of the militias loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) regarding their progress in the fighting south of the capital of Tripoli, stressing that what happened was the exact opposite [Address Libya, 23.05.2019];
- military sites for the militias allied with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) were exposed to a series of air strikes carried out by the Libyan National Army (LNA) after midnight yesterday. The strikes targeted the Al-Samoud Brigade and other sites of the militants in southern Tripoli, where the total strikes were 20 leading to losses among the armed groups, according to the information office of the Western Operations Group of LNA, including nine strikes targeting Al-Samoud Brigade led by the internationally-wanted criminal Salah Badi [Address Libya, 23.05.2019];
ZAWIYA
- an armed conflict occurred between pro-government militias in western Libya over the delivery of Turkey’s arms shipment, London based pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Sunday. Libyan armed groups allied with UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) on May 18 received armored vehicles and arms from Turkey as they fight against Libyan National Army (LNA) [Address Libya, 26.05.2019].
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said the Libyan crisis “has begun to turn into civil war,” citing the absence of a central government capable of taking over the country. In an interview with French-language newspaper La Liberté on Friday, Jhinaoui warned that what is happening in Libya as “very dangerous” against the backdrop of security developments in the suburbs of Tripoli [Address Libya, 25.05.2019];
- the Russian special envoy to Libya Lev Dengov said Khalifa Haftar’s attack on Tripoli had stalled and he can’t take the Libyan capital. In an interview with Bloomberg, Dengov said it was absolutely predictable that Haftar would get bogged down, saying he isn’t capable of taking Tripoli and that has become clear [Libya Observer, 23.05.2019];
- Moscow believes that the Libyan crisis should be resolved peacefully and it does not intend to support or “greenlight” any side to the conflict, according to the head of the Russian Contact Group for the intra-Libyan settlement, Lev Dengov. He stressed that Russia was ready to hold consultations with any side to the conflict and to share its peacemaking experience [Address Libya, 23.05.2019];
- Chairman of Presidential Council Fayez al-Sirraj and Algerian interim president Abdelkader Bensalah held talks in Algiers over the repercussions of the ongoing war on Tripoli on Thursday. Al-Sirraj arrived in Algeria Thursday morning a day after similar talks in Tunisia with president Beji Caid Essebsi. President Bensalah expressed his country’s support for the Government of National Accord, and vowed rejection to the war on Tripoli, saying his country will exert efforts to stop the aggression [Libya Observer, 23.05.2019];
- Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Emanuela Del Re said humanitarian corridors are needed “in a perspective of collaboration and European solidarity” for the serious plight of the approximately 5,000 migrants currently being held in Libyan detention centers. On Thursday, Del Re led the third annual meeting of the Joint Committee for Development Cooperation. The committee approved a package of measures totaling about 40 million euros, 15 million of which is earmarked for aid credits to benefit Ethiopia and Libya [Address Libya, 23.05.2019];
- the role of the General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, in Libya should not be ignored because he has the greatest influence and his forces control 75% of Libyan territory and 75% oilfields, said UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame at a seminar on leadership for peace organized by the International Peace Institute (IPI) in New York [Address Libya, 23.05.2019];
- General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who is leading a military operation against the forces allied with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, rejected a ceasefire requested by French President Emmanuel Macron during talks in Paris, an Elysee official said Wednesday [Address Libya, 23.05.2019];
- Jordan has stepped in into the ongoing fighting on the outskirts of Tripoli as evidence has proved it has provided an unknown number of its indigenous KADDB Al-Mared 8×8 armoured vehicle to Khalifa Haftar’s forces. The delivery of the armored vehicles is yet another boost for Haftar’s forces from a foreign country backing up his offensive against Tripoli, where about 3 million people reside [Libyan Express, 23.05.2019];
- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said that Egypt supports the Libyan national army led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar because it is organized and committed to military laws [Address Libya, 22.05.2019];
- Interior Minister of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord, Fathi Bashagha, met in Tunisia the French Ambassador to Libya Beatrice du Hellen and where the two discussed security cooperation between his government and Paris. The meeting comes after the GNA decided last April to suspend security cooperation with France because of what it described as “French support” for the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar [Address Libya, 21.05.2019];
- the European Union’s Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management announced today that it provides Libya with 6 million euros in humanitarian aid for 2019 [Address Libya, 21.05.2019].
