What Lies Behind the Nine Years of Turmoil in Libya

Oil-rich Libya has been in perpetual turmoil since the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that ended 42 years of rule by strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi. In April 2019, military commander Khalifa Haftar and his forces marched on Tripoli determined to unseat the internationally backed government located there. The war accelerated intervention in Libya by Turkey, Russia and neighboring countries as they maneuvered to shape the future of the OPEC member state, and it could escalate into a direct confrontation between Turkey and its allies against Egypt and Russia. The Tripoli-based government proposed a cease-fire in late August.

Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj came to power through a 2015 United Nations-backed political deal. But a rival government set up in eastern Libya and aligned with Haftar. His coalition of regular troops and militias, called the Libyan National Army, took the cities of Benghazi and Derna by late 2018 after drawn-out battles from militants affiliated with al-Qaeda. Haftar gradually extended his grip over the country’s east and then the south, giving him control of major oil resources. In 2019 Haftar moved on the capital, and in January 2020 allowed supporters to shut down much of the country’s oil production. Turkish military intervention forced him to retreat to central Libya in June. More than 2,000 people were killed and tens of thousands displaced by the fighting for Tripoli.