23 killed, 140 wounded after clashes break out in Libya’s capital
NBCNov 25, 2022
The Facts
Violent clashes erupted on Sat. in Libya's capital Tripoli between several armed groups backed by the country's two rival governments, sparking fears that a political crisis could turn into a new armed conflict.
The Health Ministry said Sun. that at least 32 people were killed and 159 others injured during the heaviest clashes in Tripoli in over two years, though fighting appeared to have calmed by Sunday.
The Spin
Anti-Russia narrative
Bashagha's attempt to storm Tripoli couldn't have occurred without at least the tacit support of Russia. Russian mercenaries helped Haftar's advance on the capital, supporting him as he committed serious atrocities on the city's outskirts. If peace is to be found in Libya, world powers, namely France, must end their support for eastern factions, as it only empowers Russia's position in the country.
Establishment-critical narrative
While the West never tires of demonizing Russia and China as threats to the "international community," current events in Libya are ultimately nothing more than the long shadow of the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of Gaddafi. The chaos in Libya is just another example of how the US and its allies are destroying global and regional security for their own interests. It's these double standards that pose the greatest threat.
Narrative C
The fact that Fathi Bashagha has now once again failed to extend his power to Tripoli and oust the GNU under Abdul Hamid Dbeibah is only the foreshadowing of a likely military escalation since Bashagha now has his back to the wall. One glimmer of hope is that the external actors in this conflict are unlikely to be interested in a full-blown proxy war, so a war over Tripoli would likely be shorter and less destructive.
