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Libya celebrated on February 15 11 years since the revolution that removed Muammar al-Gaddafi from power began. The protesters were looking for freedom, but after the assassination of the dictator they only found more violence. Two sides have clashed from 2014 until the 2020 ceasefire. One led by Islamists and based in Tripoli. The other by the military, led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Libya has been a country marked by violence since 2011. What began as a demand for more democracy turned into an armed confrontation that has bled this African nation dry for more than 10 years. In the process, the dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi fell, but that did not bring the expected stability and freedom. But a confrontation between different factions and militias that has bled the country between 2014 and 2020.
In February 2011, Muammar al-Gaddafi had been in command of Libya for 42 years. Four decades in which he had had socialism and Islam as pillars of his Government and in which he had fluctuated from being an enemy of the West to being one of its most faithful allies in the fight against Al-Qaeda. Libya was a relatively stable country, but Gaddafi’s power was practically absolute. Something that caused the first protests in search of more freedom to break out on February 15, 2011.
But Gaddafi did not listen to the claims of the protestersinstead, he orchestrated a brutal repression against them. A decision that brought consequences. A faction of the Army rose up against the president, who saw how in the first few months he lost control of an important part of Libya, including Bengasi, the nation’s second largest city.
The support of NATO was essential for the fall of Gaddafi
For months, the two sides had balanced forces, until the international community, led by the United States, France and NATO decided to intervene in favor of the rebels, who accused Gaddafi of having attacked the civilian population.
The entry of NATO was decisive. The rebel offensive was swift and in August 2011 Tripoli, the country’s capital, fell. But this did not make Muammar al Gaddafi give up power. Willing to fight to the end, he moved to Sirte, his hometown and the last Gaddafist stronghold. Here, in October, one of the bloodiest battles was fought, which finally led to the total fall of the regime and the murder of Gaddafi after a lynching.
But the end of Gaddafi did not mean the end of the conflict. Upon the president’s death, Libya found itself with an immense power vacuum and a mosaic of armed militias that were very different in political, religious and even ethnic aspects. The transitional government was unable to deal with this situation and was involved in the confrontation between the liberal military and the Islamist groups, which had an increasingly influential power.
Internal divisions continued
In this context, the military decided to appoint Marshal Khalifa Haftar as leader, who supported a parallel government formed in the city of Tobruk, in the east of the country. Under his command, an offensive called ‘Operation Dignity’ was launched, which allowed all of eastern and southern Libya to come under his control, including Benghazi. Meanwhile, Islamist groups formed the Libyan Dawn coalition, which settled in the west and kept the capital in Tripoli.
The conflict became entrenched and the victims numbered in the thousands. In the midst of this chaos, other warlike actors such as the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda began to appear, which came to take over important cities such as Sirte. The one who had the most power in this war with multiple fronts was Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who little by little gained more ground thanks to his military force and the fact that most of the oil wells were under his control.
Over time, the conflict in Libya became internationalizedand foreign powers began to support the different combatants. Something that caused the war to drag on even longer.
Haftar had the support of Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. On the other hand, the Islamists of Libyan Dawn had the help of Turkey, Qatar and Sudan and the United Nations, together with the United States and the European Union, created a Government of National Accord in Tripoli that never had any type of control on the ground.
For years, any attempt at a ceasefire was in vain. Marshal Haftar continued to be the strongest in the contest and his army eliminated the presence of the Islamic State in Sirte and prepared to take Tripoli by mid-2020. His strength made one think that in a matter of weeks the entire country would fall under his power.
But it was not like that, when Haftar’s troops were a few kilometers from the capital, Turkey intervened fully and sent Syrian militiamen and weapons to the fight, bringing the forces back into balance.
The end of the conflict?
Haftar’s troops fell back. The wear and tear of the war was already evident and it is in this context that, after several meetings, on October 23, 2020, the two sides signed a permanent ceasefire and agreed to the departure of foreign troops from the country. After this, a transitional government was created that would have the objective of calling elections for January 2022.
Some elections that were finally postponed due to disagreements. Almost 11 years after the start of the conflict, peace is hanging by a thin thread in Libya, something that suggests that any pretext could be enough for hostilities to return to this punished African nation.