Violent clashes have broken out between armed groups in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

Reports indicate that the clashes broke out in the al-Fournai area between the “777 militia“, recently established by Haitam al-Tajouri, and a force linked to the “deterrence militia“.

The sources also reported that a convoy of 30 armed cars entered the Libyan capital from the south, specifically in Qasr bin Ghashir, and crossed the road in front of the Tripoli Club headquarters, in conjunction with these confrontations.

The scene was set with a series of clashes with light and medium weapons between seven armed groups!

In essence, these armed groups form the base of the GNA of the Tripoli government‘s army and this situation shows that Dbeiba no longer exercises the same control over them that the previous Turkophile Prime Minister F. Saraj exercised.

The clashes are aimed at gaining control of as much of the capital as possible, which will be used to negotiate with any future government in order to maintain political and economic gains.

In short, the western part of the country is controlled by warlords, while the eastern part is entirely controlled by Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

At the mercy of terrorist groups

Libyan politician Faraj Yassin said Tripoli is at the mercy of militias fighting for power and money, warning of a widening conflict that has unimaginable consequences.

Speaking to Sky News Arabia, Yassin stressed that the security problem remains an obstacle in Libya to the restoration of the state and therefore there is no solution other than disarming and dismantling these militias and removing mercenaries and foreign fighters.

He stressed that “the diagnosis of the crisis in Libya from the beginning was wrong because the crisis was treated as a political one, whereas it is mainly a security issue, and before we talk about the political process and the elections, the militias should have been disarmed as a key element of the political process“.

Preparing for a coup?

Military expert Othman al-Mokhtar holds the government responsible for the “invasion of the militias” in the capital, as it ignored their movements and sometimes even “relied on them“. He expressed fears that the mobilisations of armed groups are the dismantling of the state and its control by them.

“But Libya needs the help of the international community to become more effective against the militias and their clutches,” he concluded

Added to all this is the fact that Libya will soon have two governments and it will be interesting to see which one the West will recognise as official.

The interim Government of National Unity (GNU) in Libya has declared that it will not relinquish power until presidential elections are held.

GNU Spokesman Mohamed Hamouda told local media on Tuesday that “the government will continue its work until it hands over its duties to an elected authority. ” He added that the international community supports the current roadmap and called for a new election date to be set.

He also noted that the issues that prevented the December elections from being held on time must be discussed and addressed.

At the same time, the Libyan parliament is preparing to elect a new government next week. This would increase the possibility of a split in the country, with two rival governments reclaiming legitimacy.

Furthermore, Libyan parliament member Saeed Imgheib said that the new Libyan government, once formed, will be called “the government of stability” and stressed that it will receive the support of many countries.

On Monday, the speaker of Libya‘s parliament, Agila Saleh, said that candidates for the post of prime minister would submit their nominations on Monday. The new Prime Minister, who will replace Abdel-Hamid Dbayba, will be selected on 8 February.

This step is rejected by the Prime Minister, Dbeiba, who refuses to hand over his duties until presidential elections are held and is supported by the Supreme Council of State (HCS), a number of armed militias and the governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Siddiq Al Kabir.