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Misrata Faces Tensions as Libya Decides on Leadership

Deputy head of the GNA Ahmed Maiteeq, Facebook
Deputy head of the GNA Ahmed Maiteeq, Facebook
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Misrata Faces Tensions as Libya Decides on Leadership

Deputy head of the GNA Ahmed Maiteeq, Facebook
Deputy head of the GNA Ahmed Maiteeq, Facebook

Since the onset of the last decade, the northwestern Libyan city of Misrata has occupied a prominent position and played a remarkable role in the North African country’s history.

Located 200 kilometers east of the capital, Tripoli, Misrata helped in overthrowing the regime in 2011 and took over a leading role in the country’s political scene and military arena.

Ahead of political turbulence created by the competition to head a prospective Libyan government, Misrata is on course to experience some tensions.

Fathi Bashagha, former interior minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA) and Ahmed Maiteeq, deputy head of the GNA, both from Misrata, have submitted their applications following decision by parliament on Monday to replace incumbent Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.

Therefore, according to observers’ expectations, the scene may open to a new conflict that armed formations may be pushed into, if necessary.

The Libyan parliament has set February 8 as the date to vote for the Libyan Prime Minister’s replacement.

Dbeibeh, in power since February last year, is accused of failing to organize the general elections that were supposed to take place in December 2021.

The two presidential candidates, Bashagha and Maiteeq, in addition to Marwan Omeish, are competing to head the new government.

Dbeibeh has accused Parliament Speaker Aqila Saleh of trying to bring back division and fragmentation to the country after the latter had called for replacing the premier based on the GNA’s mandate presumably ending.

In the face of this tense atmosphere, an independent political spectrum in Misrata that does not follow neither Bashagha nor Dbeibeh warns against the two sharing the loyalties of many militias in Misrata and Tripoli.

This increases fears of resorting to armed groups and having Libya’s west sink into another cycle of bloody clashes.

Misrata hosts the largest force of equipment and armed formations that previously played a major role in repelling National Army forces from entering the capital, Tripoli, in the war that erupted on April 4, 2019.

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Türkiye Sends Massive Reinforcements to Syria’s Idlib, Aleppo

Military reinforcements on the way to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Türkiye and Syria (Turkish media)
Military reinforcements on the way to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Türkiye and Syria (Turkish media)
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Türkiye Sends Massive Reinforcements to Syria’s Idlib, Aleppo

Military reinforcements on the way to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Türkiye and Syria (Turkish media)
Military reinforcements on the way to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Türkiye and Syria (Turkish media)

Türkiye has sent massive military reinforcements to its military positions in eastern Idlib and the western Aleppo countryside, within the de-escalation zones in northwestern Syria, known as the "Putin-Erdogan" agreement zones.

A Turkish military convoy consisting of more than 75 vehicles, including troop carriers, armored vehicles transporting soldiers, and trucks loaded with logistical and military supplies, entered through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing between Syria and Türkiye. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Friday, these new reinforcements were distributed across Turkish military points in eastern Aleppo countryside.

This marked the second batch of Turkish reinforcements in less than 24 hours. On Thursday, the Turkish military brought in a convoy of 15 vehicles carrying weapons and soldiers, including closed trucks, accompanied by Turkish intelligence vehicles, through the Bab al-Hawa crossing. These reinforcements were directed to Turkish positions in the town of al-Atarib and its surroundings in the western Aleppo countryside.

The new reinforcements come amid ongoing attacks and targeting by the Syrian army within the de-escalation zone in Idlib.

These areas have witnessed escalating clashes and mutual attacks for over two months between Syrian forces and the Fatah al-Mubeen factions, resulting in casualties on both sides.

The Syrian Observatory recorded 346 military and civilian deaths across 307 incidents in the "Putin-Erdogan" zones since the start of 2024, including attacks, sniper operations, clashes, and armed drone strikes. More than 129 soldiers and 157 civilians, including five women and 35 children, were wounded to varying degrees.

In a related context, the village of Kabashin, in the Shirwa district of Afrin, north of Aleppo, within the Olive Branch zone controlled by Turkish forces and factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, was shelled with mortars from areas where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian army are stationed in the northern Aleppo countryside.

The Syrian Observatory also reported attacks between the SDF and Turkish forces, along with their allied factions, on fronts in northern and eastern Aleppo countryside. On Thursday, five mortar shells landed near a Turkish base around the Abu al-Zandin crossing in eastern Aleppo’s al-Bab countryside, part of the Euphrates Shield zone under Turkish and allied factions’ control, originating from Syrian army positions in Aleppo’s countryside. The Turkish base responded to the source of the shelling with heavy artillery.

Turkish forces and factions also targeted the villages of Sheikh Issa and Harbel with heavy artillery, areas where the SDF and Syrian army are stationed in the northern Aleppo countryside.