Earlier in the month, it was revealed that the US sought to expand its operations from the fight against Islamic State (IS) in Sirte to chasing down IS cells throughout the country. There were reports of a foreign airstrike, late on 14 November, which targeted extremists to the north of Sebha, in Southern Libya. Although the Pentagon denied responsibility for the strikes, and it is possible they were conducted by the French, there were reports that the target of the attack was Abu Talha Al-Libi who is probably a senior IS figure who had served in Syria before returning and fighting in Sirte. There was some confusion over whether he was instead an Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) leader who is close to the Algerian terrorist leader Mokhtar ben Mokhtar (MBM).
According to local sources, al-Libi had fled towards Sebha in southern Libya from the battle for Sirte. After the strike, there were reports that IS fighters in the area had retreated north to Quttah and established a new checkpoint there. If the strike was not undertaken by the US, it is a sign that the latter will not be acting alone among its allies in a concerted attempt to chase the extremists as they flee from the Sirte area. Support from Tunisia for such a campaign is likely to continue or increase following news on 14 November of a US$120 million arms cache which was discovered on the Tunisian side of the Tunisian-Libyan border.
The extremist presence in the vulnerable and largely neglected southern Libya has exacerbated the already raw tensions in the area. According to local sources, on 17 November, a monkey owned by a cigarette shop owner from the Qadhadhfah tribe in Sebha attacked two girls from the Awlad Suleiman tribe as they walked home from school. Members of the Awlad Suleiman then returned shortly afterwards and attacked it, assuming the monkey’s actions had been deliberate. This seemingly small tiff allegedly set off tensions that had been escalating for months between the Awlad Suleiman and the Qadhadhfah tribes in the area. Less than 24 hours later, seven people had died, countless buildings had been destroyed, and there were reports of tanks entering the city in southern Libya. The fighting continued for the rest of the week.
The eastern government released a statement on 19 November condemning the violence and calling on the area’s tribal elders to stop the bloodshed. The GNA released a statement later that day calling for an investigation into the reasons for the violence. The Red Crescent pleaded for civilians to be left out of the fighting, even though there were reports that they had been deliberately targeted. Sebha’s central hospital announced a state of emergency on 19 November because it was overwhelmed by civilian casualties and limited supplies. Civilians in the southern Libyan city of Sebha complained that the militia members who were responsible for the violence were evacuated to better hospitals. Later that day the interim GNA Defence Minister Mahdi Al-Barghathi ordered the 6th Brigade and the Third Force to Misrata to secure Sebha.
The eastern government and the GNA clearly see this moment as an opportunity to extend their influence and authority to southern Libya. But infighting — both at the tribal and political level — will only prolong the political and security vacuum which already makes the area an appealing fall-back position for groups like IS. It could delay the necessary normalisation for the IOCs to return to the area; Sebha being only about 200 km northeast of the El Feel oil field.
This article was taken from Libya Politics & Security – If you wish to discuss the contents of the article further or have any questions about Libya that you need answering, then please feel free to contact us.
