TRIPOLI – The death toll from clashes in Tripoli has risen to 55 killed with another 146 injured, according to the city’s Emergency and Support Center, after forces detained an ally of the prime minister, triggering violence across the capital.
Brigadier General Mahmoud Hamza, a militia commander closely aligned with Prime Minister Abdel Hamid al-Dbeibeh, was arrested by the Deterrence Apparatus while traveling to Misrata earlier this week. The detention of the prime minister’s loyalist ignited retaliatory attacks from Hamza’s brigade and other allied militias across Tripoli.
The mounting casualties reflect the destructive violence unleashed in Tripoli as militias loyal to the detained Hamza retaliate against the forced apprehension of the prime minister’s associate.
Al-Dbeibeh has called for calm and brokered a deal with local leaders to hand over Hamza to a neutral militia for questioning. But tensions remain high as the clashes threaten to escalate into wider violence that could further destabilize Libya’s fragile government.