At Least 6 Killed in Libya’s Tripoli in Clashes Prompted by Killing of Armed Group Leader 

Members of the police are seen in the Libyan capital Tripoli. (EPA)
Members of the police are seen in the Libyan capital Tripoli. (EPA)
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At Least 6 Killed in Libya’s Tripoli in Clashes Prompted by Killing of Armed Group Leader 

Members of the police are seen in the Libyan capital Tripoli. (EPA)
Members of the police are seen in the Libyan capital Tripoli. (EPA)

Clashes between heavily armed militias rocked the Libyan capital, with gunfire and explosions heard across the city following the killing of a powerful armed group leader, officials said. At least six people were killed, they said. 

The hourslong clashes, which involved heavy weapons, took place Monday evening into the early hours of Tuesday and centered in Tripoli’s southern neighborhood of Abu Salim, the officials said. 

The fighting stemmed from the killing of Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, commander of the Stabilization Support Authority, SSA, on Monday by another rival militia, a senior government and health official said. 

The SSA is an umbrella group of militias that rose to become one of the most powerful groups in western Libya during the country’s long-running conflict. Al-Kikli, who was known as “Gheniwa”, has been accused by Amnesty International of war crimes and other serious rights violations over the past decade. 

Al-Kikli was killed in a facility run by the 444 Brigade, a militia commanded by Mahmoud Hamza, another warlord close to head of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, one of the officials said. 

Hamza’s group and their allies then attacked the offices of SSA across the capital, seizing their assets and detaining dozens of SSA fighters, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity for their safety. 

The Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency Services said in a statement that at least six people were killed in the vicinity of Abu Salim, the SSA stronghold. It said it helped evacuate many families trapped in the clashes. 

Residents reported heavy clashes and explosions in multiple areas in the capital, with dozens of vehicles carrying fighters affiliated with different groups in the streets. 

“It was a nightmare,” said Ahmed Ammer, who lives in the city center, adding that the clashes were reminiscent of the war that engulfed the North African country following the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi. 

He said the clashes subsided early Tuesday morning, but the situation has been tense with many fighters in the streets. 

Classes in the capital’s schools were suspended on Tuesday, according to the Tripoli-based education ministry. The University of Tripoli also said it suspended studies, exams and administrative work until further notice. 

Dbeibah’s government posted on its social media platforms early Tuesday that its forces carried out a military operation in Abu Salim and took full control of the area. It didn’t provide further details. 

In a statement, the UN mission in Libya expressed alarm about the “intense fighting with heavy weaponry in densely populated civilian areas” and warned that “attacks on civilians and civilian objects may amount to war crimes.” 

Libya has been divided for years between rival administrations in the east and west. Currently, it is governed by Dbeibah’s government in Tripoli and by the administration of Prime Minister Ossama Hammad in the east. 



Israel Tracks Hezbollah’s Cash Vaults from Damascus to Dahiyeh and Sidon

Hezbollah members are seen during a military exercise held by the group in southern Lebanon in May 2023.File photo – AP
Hezbollah members are seen during a military exercise held by the group in southern Lebanon in May 2023.File photo – AP
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Israel Tracks Hezbollah’s Cash Vaults from Damascus to Dahiyeh and Sidon

Hezbollah members are seen during a military exercise held by the group in southern Lebanon in May 2023.File photo – AP
Hezbollah members are seen during a military exercise held by the group in southern Lebanon in May 2023.File photo – AP

Israel is expanding its campaign to dismantle Hezbollah’s financial infrastructure, targeting suspected cash storage sites from the Syrian capital Damascus to the Beirut southern suburb of Dahiyeh and the coastal city of Sidon.

Israel’s rare announcement this week of a strike targeting a Lebanese money changer it accused of transferring funds to Hezbollah marks a sharp escalation in its efforts to dismantle the group’s financial networks, a campaign that first surfaced in Syria in 2020 and intensified during its latest military offensive in Lebanon.

On Tuesday, Israel said it had struck Haitham Bakri, a money changer in southern Lebanon, claiming he had facilitated financial transactions for Hezbollah. The move comes amid a wider Israeli push to cripple the group’s access to cash, which has included targeting buildings believed to store Hezbollah funds, notably in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Israeli military statements have typically focused on military targets. But this week’s public naming of Bakri — along with disclosures about other money changers allegedly assisting Hezbollah — represents a rare departure from the norm. Previous Israeli claims of targeting financial hubs were often dismissed by locals until the latest war provided fresh evidence, with several sites connected to Hezbollah’s cash reserves coming under fire.

Hezbollah, which is under US sanctions and designated a terrorist group by Washington, has relied almost exclusively on cash-based transactions since 2011, when Lebanese banks began shutting out individuals suspected of ties to the movement.

Financial sources told Asharq al-Awsat that the Israeli pressure campaign complements broader international efforts to sever Hezbollah’s funding channels — including tighter security at Beirut’s airport and the closure of smuggling routes to Syria.

In January, Hezbollah members cordoned off a bombed building in the Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik during debris removal operations, according to local sources. Witnesses said they saw “what was left of iron safes” being pulled from the wreckage.

No residents claimed ownership of the items retrieved, raising suspicions that the contents — believed to include large sums of money — belonged to Hezbollah.

That incident was not isolated. Residents in southern Beirut say they witnessed similar scenes after Israeli airstrikes, including burned US $100 bills scattered across the ruins of a building in the Mreijeh district. One local told Asharq al-Awsat he could not confirm whether the cash belonged to Hezbollah or to tenants of the targeted building.

Further south, residents of a village in Nabatieh district reported finding scorched money after an Israeli strike destroyed a home. During the same period, Lebanese media reported that a Hezbollah operative responsible for salary transfers was killed in northern Lebanon.

Following months of ambiguity surrounding Hezbollah’s financial network — most notably the discovery of money changer Mohammad Srour’s tortured body in Lebanon’s Mount Lebanon district in April — Israel has launched a new phase of strikes aimed at what it claims are funding channels for the Iran-backed group.

This latest move expands the scope of Israeli targeting to include four Lebanese money exchange companies allegedly linked to Hezbollah, according to the Israeli military. The move risks further damaging the reputation of Lebanon’s financial sector, already battered by years of economic collapse and corruption.

“This poses a direct threat to the credibility of the currency exchange sector,” said economist and university professor Pierre Khoury. He told Asharq al-Awsat that Lebanon urgently needs to implement financial reforms to strip Israel of its stated justifications.

“Israeli attacks are completely illegal under any pretext, as they violate the sovereignty of a nation,” Khoury said. “But the Lebanese government must eliminate any pretext by enforcing financial governance and transparency. If it does so, any future Israeli attacks will be without justification.”

Khoury pointed to international reports that say Lebanese financial institutions — including banks — are still not fully compliant with global anti-money laundering standards.

“The state must take serious steps to ensure financial transparency through capable institutions,” he added. “Only then can Lebanon shed its image as a haven for political financing and money laundering.”