The fighting between militias from Friday to Saturday night in Tripoli, in a context of political chaos with two rival governments in Libya, caused 32 deaths and 159 injuries, according to a new balance announced this Sunday by the Ministry of Health.

Calm returned to Tripoli this Sunday after clashes between armed groups in various neighborhoods of the Libyan capital where two governments have been vying for power since March. One is based in Tripoli (west) and has been led by Abdelhamid Dbeibah since 2021, resulting from a peace process led by the United Nations after an earlier cycle of violence.

The other is headed by former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha, based in Sirte (in the center of the country’s coastline) and who has the support of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a strong man from the east. Tensions between armed groups loyal to one or another of the rival leaders have increased in recent months in Tripoli.

Libya has been in crisis and in repeated episodes of armed conflict for more than a decade after the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011. Since then, the country has had a dozen governments and has failed to hold presidential elections due to strong differences.

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