Local and international efforts have succeeded in achieving relative stability in Libya, by maintaining the ceasefire that occurred between the Libyan parties in 2020, and the role of mercenaries who filled the past years with battles and blood has eased.
West turmoil
In their interview with Sky News Arabia, security and military experts agreed that the cities of eastern Libya are the most secure and stable, thanks to the presence of a national institution represented by the Libyan army that has been able, since 2017, to impose security and eliminate terrorism and organized crime there.
On the other hand, since early last year, the cities of western Libya have witnessed clashes and unrest at the hands of militias, most of which follow extremist currents.
The headquarters of the Prime Minister and the Presidential Council were the most exposed to incursions, until it came to the detention of officials and senior officials as a means of pressure.
The militias made a series of threats to disrupt or cancel the elections, which were scheduled for December 24 last. In that month, the “Al-Samoud Brigade” militia in Tripoli announced that “there will be no elections,” and vowed to close all institutions. Indeed, armed formations surrounded the Prime Minister’s headquarters, This was one of the reasons for announcing the postponement of the elections.
Militia chaos
In the city of Al-Zawiya, west of Tripoli, clashes erupted in the second half of last year, between militias that were fighting in the “Dawn of Libya” operation led by the terrorist Brotherhood against the Libyan National Army and the people in 2014, and the motive behind those clashes is the struggle for influence and a show of power. .
As a result of those clashes, civilians were killed and injured, in addition to huge material losses as a result of the exchange of rocket fire in neighborhoods.
In addition to the clashes, western and southern Libya were subjected to an invasion of migrants intrusive into Libya by smuggling groups that took advantage of the deteriorating security situation in these areas.
According to the Libyan military analyst, Wafiq Al-Rahhal, the mercenaries were not the main threat to security in 2021; Because almost all parties committed themselves to reining in them and placing them in camps.
He added that “the whole game in 2021 was in the hands of the militias, which were used by the political Islam movement as a card to influence the elections file,” saying that the continuation of the militias at large will make the decision of any government stem from political pressure and fear.
With regard to the south, the military analyst warned of the spread of sleeper cells of ISIS elements, citing terrorist operations against the army forces in recent months.
Safe East
As for the East, the traveler describes it as “the safest”; He inferred that since 2017, the army and police there were able to achieve the difficult equation and impose security; Until it became the kiss of displaced people from other regions in Libya.
In the same vein, the Libyan political analyst, Ibrahim Al-Fitouri, believes that the use of weapons in the cities of eastern Libya is limited to the army and police forces, and is not divided into dozens of factions and currents, as is the case in the West; This contributed to achieving security and stability in the East.
In Al-Fitouri’s words, the Libyan army in the east “works as a professional unified national institution, just like the armies in neighboring countries.”
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