Armed groups in Tripoli have agreed to leave the Libyan capital and to be replaced with regular forces, the country’s interior minister said, after a spate of deadly clashes.
“After a month of consultations, we came to an agreement with the security groups that they will leave the capital soon,” said Imad Trabelsi, a member of Libya’s internationally recognised government, on February 21.
Libya has been battered by armed conflict and political chaos since the 2011 uprising. “Security groups” evolved from the myriad of militias that filled a security vacuum after the 2011 revolution that overthrew longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Heavily armed and equipped, they are not under the direct authority of the Ministries of Interior or Defense, though they receive public funds.
The country is divided between the internationally recognised Tripoli-based government led by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in the west and an administration in the east backed by renegade general Khalifa Haftar.
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