Disputed Libyan PM is forced out of Tripoli as fighting kills one
A militiaman was killed during clashes in Tripoli which forced Fathi Bashagha, who heads one of two administrations claiming to govern Libya, to flee the city
2 min read
The stalemate has already led to a partial blockade of Libya's oil facilities [Getty]
A Libyan militia fighter was killed in clashes in Tripoli on Tuesday as clashes broke out in the capital forcing the prime minister appointed by parliament, Fathi Bashagha, to leave the city.
Bashagha's authority is disputed by a rival government led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, which controls Tripoli.
Ahmed Al-Ashhab, a member of Libya's pro-Bashagha Brigade 166, was killed during fighting that took place when the prime minister-designate tried to enter the city.
Bashagha's effort to break two months of stalemate between rival administrations risks plunging Libya back into prolonged fighting after two years of comparative peace.
This could see a return to Libya's territorial divide when warlord Khalifa Haftar controlled the country's east.
The stalemate has already led to a partial blockade of Libya's oil facilities, cutting its main source of foreign revenue by half.
Clashes erupted in the Mansoura and Souk al-Tulath areas, in central Tripoli, hours after Bashagha arrived.
In central areas, away from the clashes on the northeast side of Tripoli, there was little evidence of military activity with the government of Bashagha's rival Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah still in apparent control.
Bashagha had entered Tripoli overnight accompanied by allied fighters in the hope of taking over the government.
He was quickly met by opposition from forces aligned with Dbeibah, who was appointed through an UN-backed process last year.
Dbeibah's office released a statement saying it would carry on its duties from inside the capital.
The Tripoli-based government of Dbeibah slammed Bashagha, describing Tuesday's developments as an armed group's "desperate attempt to spread terror and chaos" in the Libyan capital — a reference to Bashagha.
Libya has had little security since the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi.
Infighting split Libya in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions before a 2020 truce that brought it under a fragile interim unity government.
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