
After two days of bloody clashes between rival factions that claimed at least six lives, Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU), based in Tripoli, announced Thursday, May 15, that the security situation in the capital has stabilized.
According to a statement posted on its official Facebook page, the Interior Ministry assures all residents that the security situation in Tripoli is stable and under control. However, he added, “to maintain public order, security services are carrying out their responsibilities with great efficiency.”
Police stations throughout the city were open twenty-four hours a day to receive complaints and reports, the ministry said, urging citizens and civil servants to return to their regular routines. Earlier this week, fighting broke out after Abdel Ghani al-Kikli, popularly known as Ghaniwa, a commander in the Stability, was killed.
According to security sources, until a ceasefire was declared on Wednesday, the killing sparked intense retaliatory clashes between the SSA and the 444 Brigade that extended into the central and residential districts. Since longtime-leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in an uprising supported by NATO in 2011, Libya has remained divided.
The nation is divided between two opposing governments: the eastern-based government led by Khalifa Haftar and supported by the Libyan National Army (LNA), and the UN-recognized GNU in Tripoli. Despite repeated calls for disarmament and the unification of security institutions, armed factions continue to vie for influence, frequently through violence, within Tripoli and other areas under GNU control.