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Instability in Libya

Attack in Benghazi Kills More than Thirty

  • A double car bombing late yesterday evening outside of a mosque in the eastern Libyan city killed at least thirty-five people and wounded dozens more (Reuters)

Greece Seizes Ship Carrying Explosives to Libya

  • The Greek coast guard intercepted a Tanzania-flagged cargo ship that was heading from Turkey to Libya and was carrying twenty-nine containers of explosives and detonators. The ship’s bill of lading said it was destined for Oman and Djibouti but the captain claims the owner ordered him to take the ship to Libya, which has been under an international arms embargo since 2011 (Kathimerini)

France Calls for Sanctions on Libya Traffickers

  • At a UN Security Council meeting yesterday, France called for imposing targeted sanctions on human traffickers in Libya and referring them to the International Criminal Court after the council reviewed media footage showing apparent slave auctions of stranded African migrants there. A Libyan envoy said local authorities are investigating the charges (Voice of America)

Civilians Killed in Strike on Libya’s Derna

  • Seventeen people were reported killed and more than thirty wounded in an air strike in the city of Derna, according to local media. It was not yet clear which country carried out the strike (Al Jazeera)

UN Condemns Mass Grave Found in Benghazi

  • The United Nations and UN-backed government in Tripoli have condemned dozens of killings that resulted in a mass grave discovered east of Benghazi. Military strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose forces control eastern Libya, has vowed an investigation; witnesses said the victims had been arrested by Haftar’s forces (Al Jazeera)

UN Relocates Thousands of Migrants in Libya

  • The United Nations has transferred some four thousand migrants from informal camps in the city of Sabratha to a hangar there after clashes between rival groups fighting to control the city. Crossings into Europe from Sabratha, a smuggling hub, dropped sharply in July when one armed group struck a deal with the Tripoli government to block departures (Reuters)

United States Conducts Airstrikes in Libya

  • U.S. airstrikes killed seventeen self-proclaimed Islamic State militants in Libya in the first such operation in the country under President Donald Trump (CNN)

Libyan Armed Group Prohibits Asylum Seekers From Boarding Boats

  • An armed group in the Libyan city of Sabratha is prohibiting asylum seekers from boarding boats set for Italy. Migrant arrivals to Italy from North Africa in July dropped by more than half from a year earlier (Reuters)

Rival Libyan Parties Announce Cease-Fire

  • Libya’s two main rival parties announced a cease-fire and said they intend to hold elections “as soon as possible” after they met in Paris for negotiations mediated by French President Emmanuel Macron (CNN)

Libyan National Army Captures Benghazi

  • The Libyan National Army declared on July 5 that it captured the city of Benghazi from rival armed groups after a three-year campaign (Reuters)

UN Convoy Attacked by Gunmen, Workers Briefly Detained

  • Gunmen attacked a UN convoy in western Libya, damaging one car and briefly seizing seven workers before releasing them. The identities of the attackers are unknown (Voice of America)

International Criminal Court Calls for Arrest of Gaddafi’s Son

  • The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi should be arrested and turned over to the court in The Hague. Gaddafi is wanted for his role in supporting his father Muammar Gaddafi’s rule, but his lawyers say that he will not turn himself in to the court (Reuters)

Libyan Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Released From Jail

  • Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was released from jail under an amnesty law. Saif is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity committed during the 2011 Libyan uprising (BBC)

UN-Backed Libyan Forces Take Tripoli Airport

  • Libyan forces loyal to the UN-backed GNA seized Tripoli’s international airport from a rival militia. The airport had been under the control of the Fajr Libya coalition since 2014 (Reuters)

Libya Becomes Focus in Manchester Bombing Probe

  • Salman Abedi, the man behind the May 22 suicide bombing in Manchester, spent four weeks in Libya, then returned to the United Kingdom days before the attack. Authorities arrested Abedi’s brother and father in Libya and are investigating possible ties to the Islamic State (Washington Post)

Southern Libya Air Base Under Control of Eastern Forces

  • The eastern-based Libyan National Army under the Khalifa Hifter took control of an air base in southern Libya. The base had previously been under the control of a rival faction from Misrata (west) loyal to the UN-backed Government of National Accord (Reuters)

Libya’s Rival Governments Meet in Rome

  • Italy brokered a meeting in Rome between representatives from Libya’s legislature and its UN-backed state council. The council said in a statement that the two sides agreed to reach “peaceful and fair solutions to outstanding issues” (Guardian)

Ninety-Seven Migrants Missing After Libyan Boat Sinks

  • The Libyan coast guard said that at least ninety-seven people are believed to have drowned when a Europe-bound boat capsized about ten kilometers from the capital of Tripoli. Twenty-three people were rescued (Al Jazeera)

Report: Migrants Sold in Libyan ‘Slave Markets’

  • African migrants attempting to cross into Europe from Libya are being rounded up by smugglers, then auctioned off as slave laborers or held for ransom, according to a new report from the International Organization for Migration. The report called the forced labor “a disturbing new trend in the already dire situation for migrants in Libya” (Voice of America)

Libyan Militias Aim to Take Benghazi

  • Libyan militias that occupied two strategic oil terminals last week they intend to take Benghazi and unseat General Khalifa Hifter. The so-called Benghazi Defense Brigades claim that more than 3,000 men are ready to continue eastward now that they have taken over the oil terminals of al-Sidra and Ras Lanuf (Associated Press)

UNICEF Identifies Libya as Epicenter for Child Migrant Abuse

  • A recent UNICEF report found that many of the 26,000 children migrating from Libya to parts of Italy have experienced malnutrition, lack of medical care, violence, and sexual abuse from smugglers or human traffickers along their routes through the country (BBC)

Migrant Bodies Found in Western Libya

  • Some seventy-four bodies of people believed to have been asylum seekers attempting to cross international waters were found in the western Libyan city of Zawiya, according to the Red Crescent (Guardian)

Egypt Mediates Between Rival Libyan Factions

  • The head of the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) and a powerful military commander spoke through an Egyptian intermediary after refusing to meet in Cairo meant to move toward a political settlement (Associated Press)

Libya Says Oil Sector Reopen for Business

  • Libyan National Oil Corporation Chairman Mustafa Sanallah said the country is reopening its oil sector to foreign investments for the first time since a civil war erupted and toppled longtime dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi in 2011 (Wall Street Journal)
  • Libya has the largest petroleum reserves in Africa

U.S. Official: IS Remains Threat in Libya

  • Despite defeat in its stronghold in Sirte this week, the Obama administration’s special envoy to Libya said the Islamic State was likely forming cells elsewhere in the country, and remained a threat (New York Times)