55 people were killed and 146 were injured as a result of conflicts that took place in Tripoli, the capital of Libya, on Monday and Tuesday, according to the emergency services.
City elders said late on Tuesday that they had negotiated a settlement that would see the Special Deterrence Force give over 444 Brigade leader Mahmoud Hamza to a third side, the Stability Support Apparatus, putting an end to Tripoli’s bloodiest bloodshed in years. The Special Deterrence Force, which oversees Mitiga airport, had detained Hamza when he sought to leave on Monday.
Airlines that stopped using Mitiga airport on Tuesday—where some of the heaviest violence occurred—began using it again on Wednesday, according to them.
Police and other security officers that remained impartial in the conflicts entered the regions where the violence occurred as part of the agreement declared by the elders. The conflict has not been settled, nevertheless, and a source with the 444 Brigade warned that if Hamza was not brought back to his own base, the brigade may continue fighting.
Since a 2020 cease-fire between the main eastern and western sides, most fighting in Libya has ceased. However, competing factions still control the majority of the country, and a long-term resolution to the conflict that has raged since a NATO-backed revolt in 2011 appears remote.
