Libya

Conflict Status: Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC)

Conflict Start: 2014

Parties:

  1. House of Representatives (Tobruk-based)
  2. Government of National Accord (since 2016)
  3. National Salvation Government (2014-17)
  4. Islamic State

Background:

In 2011 the First Libyan Civil War was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The United Nations Security Council passed an initial resolution in February of 2011. In early March, Gaddafi’s forces rallied, pushed eastwards and re-took several coastal cities before reaching Benghazi. A further UN resolution authorized member states to establish and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, and to use “all necessary measures” to prevent attacks on civilians, under the auspicious of the responsibility to protect doctrine. The bombing by NATO forces destroyed military installments and civilian infrastructure alike. While the Gaddafi government announced a ceasefire, rebels rejected government offers of a ceasefire and efforts by the African Union to end the fighting, so the campaign continued.

In August, rebel forces launched an offensive on the government-held coast of Libya, backed by a wide-reaching NATO bombing campaign, taking back territory lost months before and ultimately capturing the capital city of Tripoli. In September 2011, the National Transitional Council was recognized by the United Nations as the legal representative of Libya, replacing the Gaddafi government. Muammar Gaddafi who evaded capture until late October, when he was captured and killed in Sirte. The National Transitional Council “declared the liberation of Libya” and the official end of the war on October 23, 2011.

However, the ouster of Gaddafi only opened Libya up to more conflict. What has become the the Second Libyan Civil War between rival factions seeking control of the territory and oil of Libya. The conflict at the beginning was mostly between the government of the House of Representatives (HoR) that was controversially elected in 2014, also known as the “Tobruk government”; and the rival General National Congress (GNC) endorsed government, also called the “National Salvation Government”, based in the capital Tripoli, established after Operation Odyssey Dawn and the failed military coup.

The HoR, also known as the Council of Deputies, the strongest in eastern Libya, has the loyalty of the Libyan National Army, under the command of General Khalifa Haftar, and has been supported by airstrikes by Egypt and the UAE. The GNC, based in western Libya and backed by various different militias mainly Libya Dawn coalition in west Libya and Libya Shield in the east with some support from Qatar, Sudan and Turke, initially accepted the results of the 2014 election, but rejected them after the Supreme Constitutional Court nullified an amendment regarding the roadmap for Libya’s transition and HoR elections. Due to controversy about constitutional amendments, the HoR refused to take office from GNC in Tripoli, which was controlled by powerful militias from the western coastal city of Misrata. Instead, the HoR established its parliament in Tobruk, which is controlled by General Haftar’s forces.

In December 2015, after long talks in Skhirat, the Libyan Political Agreement[87] was signed. The LPA was the result of protracted negotiations between rival political camps based in the capital, Tripoli, Tobruk and elsewhere which agreed to unite as the Government of National Accord. On 30 March 2016 Fayez Sarraj, the head of the GNA, was able to arrive to Tripoli and started working from there despite opposition from GNC. Although the Government of National Accord is currently the only internationally-recognized government in the country, its authority is still not recognized by the HoR, as specific details acceptable to both sides have not yet been agreed upon, especially regarding the future of Haftar.

In addition to those three factions, there are also smaller rival groups: the Islamist Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, led by Ansar al-Sharia (Libya), which has had the support of the GNC and was defeated in Benghazi in 2017; the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL’s) Libyan provinces; The Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna which expelled ISIL from Derna in July 2015 and was later itself defeated in Derna by the Tobruk government in 2018. as well as many militias and armed groups, whose allegiances often change.

The GNA and the GNC launched an offensive to capture areas in and around Sirte from ISIL in May 2016 that resulted in ISIL losing control of all significant territory it previously held in Libya. Forces loyal to Khalifa al-Ghawil attempted a coup d’état against Fayez al-Sarraj and the Presidential Council of the GNA later in 2016. Sporadic fighting has continued since.

Recently, Khalifa al-Ghawil is leading the “National Libyan Army” in an attempt to retake Tripoli in 2019.