UN-Backed Regime in Libya Takes Back Three Key Towns Near Tripoli
By: Nathan Matsko
Militia forces in the 2011 Revolution against Colonel Ghadafi.
State College — Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) has secured a series of decisive victories in the ongoing civil war for control of the North African nation.
The UN-supported GNA successfully broke a siege of the nation’s capital, Tripoli, that was carried out by the Libyan National Army (LNA) over the course of the last several months. The siege operations and subsequent battles to end them saw thousands killed on both sides.
The GNA has continued to push for control of the country after breaking the siege, taking three cities to the west of Tripoli previously held by the LNA and its leader, Commander Khalifa Haftar.
According to the Libya Herald, the GNA forces took the coastal cities of Sabratha and Surman from Haftar’s soldiers. The two cities lie halfway between the border of Tunisia and Tripoli, seizing a large portion of access to the Mediterranean from LNA forces.
The cities were host to a large armory of weapons utilized by the LNA, allegedly of Emirati in origin. GNA forces also took the town of Al-Ajayat. Earlier this month, Al-Ajayat was the site of a multitude of setbacks for Haftar, with reports of a Turkish warship firing on LNA positions in the town and an Emirati-supplied drone shot down by GNA forces.
These most recent acts of war have given an inside look at the various actors that are perpetuating, funding, and participating in the conflict. The GNA, in addition to being supported by the UN, is also backed largely by Turkey. The Turkish government has supplied the GNA with a host of weapons, including drones that the GNA has used to great effect in its fight with the LNA. Turkey’s support is not limited to weapons and supplies, however, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announcing the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya earlier this year.
The LNA is supported by the UAE, Egypt, and Russia. Haftar’s forces are armed with very similar weapons--including armed drones and fighter jets--that have been supplied by its allies. There have also been instances of foreign actors deploying troops to aid Haftar’s army.
An organization known as Wagner Group, a Russian private military contractor, has up to 2,000 soldiers deployed in Libya. Wagner Group has been called an extension of the Kremlin by observers, citing the organization’s owner is a Russian billionaire with ties to Vladimir Putin. The group has a checkered history in Ukraine, Syria, and now Libya, with the GNA accusing the group of using chemical weapons against its soldiers in a recent skirmish in Southern Tripoli.
Those who will likely benefit from the ending of the siege has human rights experts concerned. Several individuals associated with the GNA are major migrant smugglers. With key coastal towns close to the capital liberated from the LNA, they are planning to restart their operations, per Middle East Eye. The smugglers charge prospective migrants thousands of dollars for a seat on one of the many ships that cross the Mediterranean daily, without concern as to whether the ship makes it to its destination.
The battle for Tripoli held implications not just for the warring factions in Libya, but also every nation who has supported their favored side with weapons and funding. The GNA has won this battle, but Haftar’s forces are showing no signs of backing down.