Since the overthrow Mu‘ammar al-Qaddafi in 2011, with the support of NATO, Libya was thrown into chaos with no foreseen end. For the past few years, a power struggle has emerged between the internationally recognized government led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj and the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army led by General Khalifa Haftar, who receives military support from regional powers, along with the United States and Russia. The latest episode in this power struggle started in April with the advancement of General Haftar towards the capital, Tripoli.
The confrontations have so far claimed hundreds of lives. Earlier this month, an air strike by General Haftar's forces on the Tajoura immigration detention center in eastern Tripoli claimed the lives of at least forty refugees and migrants, injuring more than eighty. Amnesty International said that around six hundred people were trapped in the detention center with no way to escape, and called for the attack to be independently investigated as a war crime.
Khalil Bendib of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa (VOMENA) speaks with Ali Ahmida, professor of political science at the University of New England in Maine. They discuss the regional and international players who are fueling the conflict, as well as latest on the battle for Tripoli.
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