📰 Libya · page 3

First Libyan Civil War and the fall of Gaddafi (2011)

Main article: First Libyan Civil War, 2011 military intervention in Libya

The first civil war came during the Arab Spring movements which overturned the rulers of Tunisia corpus and Egypt corpus.192 Libya first experienced protests against Gaddafi's regime on 15 February 2011, with a full-scale revolt beginning on 17 February.[81]193 Libya's authoritarian regime led by Muammar Gaddafi put up much more of a resistance compared to the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia.194 While overthrowing the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia was a relatively quick process, Gaddafi's campaign posed significant stalls on the uprising in Libya.[82]195 The first announcement of a competing political authority appeared online and declared the Interim Transitional National Council as an alternative government.196 One of Gaddafi's senior advisors responded by posting a tweet, wherein he resigned, defected, and advised Gaddafi to flee.[83]197 By 20 February, the unrest had spread to Tripoli corpus.198 On 27 February 2011, the National Transitional Council was established to administer the areas of Libya under rebel control.199 On 10 March 2011, the United States corpus and many other nations recognised the council headed by Mahmoud Jibril as acting prime minister and as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people and withdrawing the recognition of Gaddafi's regime.[84][85]200

Pro-Gaddafi forces were able to respond militarily to rebel pushes in Western Libya and launched a counterattack along the coast toward Benghazi, the de facto centre of the uprising.[86]201 The town of Zawiya, 48 km from Tripoli, was bombarded by air force planes and army tanks and seized by Jamahiriya troops, "exercising a level of brutality not yet seen in the conflict."[87]202 Organizations of the United Nations, including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon[88] and the United Nations Human Rights Council, condemned the crackdown as violating international law, with the latter body expelling Libya outright in an unprecedented action.[89][90]203 On 17 March 2011, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973,[91] with a 10–0 vote and five abstentions including Russia corpus, China corpus, India corpus, Brazil corpus and Germany corpus.204 The resolution sanctioned the establishment of a no-fly zone and the use of "all means necessary" to protect civilians within Libya.[92]205 On 19 March, the first act of NATO allies to secure the no-fly zone began by destroying Libyan air defences when French military jets entered Libyan airspace on a reconnaissance mission heralding attacks on enemy targets.[93]206

In the weeks that followed, U.S. American forces were in the forefront of NATO operations against Libya.207 More than 8,000 US personnel in warships and aircraft were deployed in the area.208 At least 3,000 targets were struck in 14,202 strike sorties, 716 of them in Tripoli and 492 in Brega.[94]209 The U.S. air offensive included flights of B-2 stealth bombers, each bomber armed with sixteen 2000-pound bombs, flying out of and returning to their base in Missouri.[95]210 The support provided by the NATO air forces contributed to the ultimate success of the revolution.[96]211 By 22 August 2011, rebel fighters had entered Tripoli and occupied Green Square,[97] which they renamed Martyrs' Square in honour of those killed since 17 February 2011.212 On 20 October 2011, the last heavy fighting of the uprising came to an end in the city of Sirte.213 The Battle of Sirte was both the last decisive battle and the last one in general of the First Libyan Civil War where Gaddafi was captured and killed by NATO-backed forces on 20 October 2011.214 Sirte was the last Gaddafi loyalist stronghold and his place of birth.215 The defeat of loyalist forces was celebrated on 23 October 2011, three days after the fall of Sirte.216 At least 30,000 Libyans died in the civil war.[98]217 In addition, the National Transitional Council estimated 50,000 wounded.[99]218

Interwar period and the Second Libyan Civil War (2011–2020)

Main article: Aftermath of the First Libyan Civil War, Second Libyan Civil War

Following the defeat of loyalist forces, Libya was torn among numerous rival, armed militias affiliated with distinct regions, cities and tribes, while the central government had been weak and unable to effectively exert its authority over the country.219 Competing militias pitted themselves against each other in a political struggle between Islamist politicians and their opponents.[100]220 On 7 July 2012, Libyans held their first parliamentary elections since the end of the former regime.221 On 8 August, the National Transitional Council officially handed power over to the wholly elected General National Congress, which was then tasked with the formation of an interim government and the drafting of a new Libyan Constitution to be approved in a general referendum.[101]222 On 25 August 2012, in what Reuters reported as "the most blatant sectarian attack" since the end of the civil war, unnamed organised assailants bulldozed a Sufi mosque with graves in the centre of the Libyan capital Tripoli corpus.223 It was the second such razing of a Sufi site in two days.[102]224 Numerous acts of vandalism and destruction of heritage were carried out by suspected Islamist militias, including the removal of the Nude Gazelle Statue and the destruction and desecration of World War II–era British grave sites near Benghazi.[103][104]225 Many other cases of heritage vandalism were reported to be carried out by Islamist-related radical militias and mobs that either destroyed, robbed, or looted a number of historic sites.226

On 11 September 2012, Islamist militants mounted an attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi,[105] killing the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three others.227 The incident generated outrage in the United States corpus and Libya.[106]228 On 7 October 2012, Libya's Prime Minister-elect Mustafa A.G.229 Abushagur was ousted after failing a second time to win parliamentary approval for a new cabinet.[107][108][109]230 On 14 October 2012, the General National Congress elected former GNC member and human rights lawyer Ali Zeidan as prime minister-designate.[110]231 Zeidan was sworn in after his cabinet was approved by the GNC.[111][112]232 On 11 March 2014, after having been ousted by the GNC for his inability to halt a rogue oil shipment,[113] Prime Minister Zeidan stepped down, and was replaced by Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani.[114]233

The Second Civil War began in May 2014 following fighting between rival parliaments with tribal militias and jihadist groups soon taking advantage of the power vacuum.234 Most notably, radical Islamist fighters seized Derna in 2014 and Sirte in 2015 in the name of the Islamic State.235 In February 2015, neighbouring Egypt corpus launched airstrikes against IS in support of the Tobruk government.[115][116][117]236 In June 2014, elections were held to the House of Representatives, a new legislative body intended to take over from the General National Congress.237 The elections were marred by violence and low turnout, with voting stations closed in some areas.[118]238 Secularists and liberals did well in the elections, to the consternation of Islamist lawmakers in the GNC, who reconvened and declared a continuing mandate for the GNC, refusing to recognise the new House of Representatives.[119]239 Armed supporters of the General National Congress occupied Tripoli, forcing the newly elected parliament to flee to Tobruk.[120][16]240

In January 2015, meetings were held with the aim to find a peaceful agreement between the rival parties in Libya.241 The so-called Geneva-Ghadames talks were supposed to bring the GNC and the Tobruk government together at one table to find a solution of the internal conflict.242 However, the GNC actually never participated, a sign that internal division not only affected the "Tobruk Camp", but also the "Tripoli Camp".243 Meanwhile, terrorism within Libya steadily increased, also affecting neighbouring countries.244 The terrorist attack against the Bardo Museum in Tunisia corpus on 18 March 2015 was reportedly carried out by two Libyan-trained militants.[121]245 During 2015 an extended series of diplomatic meetings and peace negotiations were supported by the United Nations, as conducted by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), Spanish diplomat Bernardino León.[122][123]246 UN support for the SRSG-led process of dialogue carried on in addition to the usual work of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).[124]247 In July 2015 SRSG Leon reported to the UN Security Council on the progress of the negotiations, which at that point had just achieved a political agreement on 11 July setting out "a comprehensive framework... includ[ing] guiding principles... institutions and decision-making mechanisms to guide the transition until the adoption of a permanent constitution."248 Talks, negotiations and dialogue continued on during mid-2015 at various international locations, culminating at Skhirat in Morocco in early September.[125][126]249

Also in 2015, as part of the ongoing support from the international community, the UN Human Rights Council requested a report about the Libyan situation[127][128] and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, established an investigative body (OIOL) to report on human rights and rebuilding the Libyan justice system.[129]250 Chaos-ridden Libya emerged as a major transit point for people trying to reach Europe.251 Between 2013 and 2018, nearly 700,000 migrants reached Italy by boat, many of them from Libya.[130][131]252 In May 2018 Libya's rival leaders agreed to hold parliamentary and presidential elections following a meeting in Paris corpus.[132]253 In April 2019, Khalifa Haftar launched Operation Flood of Dignity, in an offensive by the Libyan National Army aimed to seize Western territories from the Government of National Accord (GNA).[133]254 In June 2019, forces allied to Libya's UN-recognised Government of National Accord successfully captured Gharyan, a strategic town where military commander Khalifa Haftar and his fighters were based.255 According to a spokesman for GNA forces, Mustafa al-Mejii, dozens of LNA fighters under Haftar were killed, while at least 18 were taken prisoner.[134]256

In March 2020, Prime Minister of the GNA Fayez Al-Sarraj commenced Operation Peace Storm.257 The government initiated the bid in response to the state of assaults carried by Field Marshal Haftar's LNA. "258 We are a legitimate, civilian government that respects its obligations to the international community, but is committed primarily to its people and has an obligation to protect its citizens," Sarraj said in line with his decision.[135]259 On 28 August 2020, the BBC Africa Eye and BBC Arabic Documentaries revealed that a drone operated by the United Arab Emirates corpus (UAE) killed 26 young cadets at a military academy in Tripoli, on 4 January.260 Most of the cadets were teenagers and none of them were armed.261 The Chinese-made drone Wing Loong II fired Blue Arrow 7 missile, which was operated from UAE-run Al-Khadim Libyan air base.262 In February, these drones stationed in Libya were moved to an air base near Siwa in the western Egyptian desert.[136]263 The Guardian probed and discovered the blatant violation of UN arms embargo by the UAE and Turkey corpus on 7 October 2020.264 As per the reporting, both the nations sent large-scale military cargo planes to Libya in support of their respective parties.[137]265 On 23 October 2020, a permanent ceasefire was signed to end the war.[138]266

Post-civil war years (2020–present)

Main article: Libyan crisis

In December 2021, the country's first presidential election was scheduled, but was delayed to June 2022[139] and later postponed further.267

Fathi Bashagha was appointed prime minister by the parliament in February 2022 to lead a transitional administration, but standing prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh refused to hand over power as of April 2022.268 In protest against the Dbeibah government, tribal leaders from the desert town of Ubari shut down the El Sharara oil field, Libya's largest oil field, on 18 April 2022.269 The shut down threatened to cause oil shortages domestically in Libya, and preclude the state-run National Oil Corp. from exploiting the increase in oil prices resulting from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[140]270 On 2 July, protesters stormed the parliament building in Tobruk and lit fires.[141][142]271

On 10 September 2023, catastrophic floods due to dam failures generated by Storm Daniel devastated the port city of Derna, killing more than 5,900 and possibly as many as 24,000.[143]272 The floods were the worst natural disaster in Libya's modern history.[144]273

In November 2024, the Government of National Unity announced it would instate a morality police to crack-down on "weird haircuts", enforce "modest" clothing, and require male guardians for women.[145]274

Geography

Main article: Geography of Libya, Wildlife of Libya, Climate change in Libya

Libya extends over 1759540 km2, making it the 16th-largest nation in the world by size.275 Libya is bounded to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, the northwest by Tunisia corpus, the west by Algeria corpus, the southwest by Niger corpus, the south by Chad corpus, the southeast by Sudan corpus, and the east by Egypt corpus, as well as maritime borders with Greece corpus, Italy corpus and Malta corpus to the north.276 Libya lies between latitudes 19° and 34°N, and longitudes 9° and 26°E. Libya comprises three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica.277

At 1770 km, Libya's coastline is the longest of any African country bordering the Mediterranean.[146][147]278 The portion of the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya is often called the Libyan Sea.279 The climate is mostly extremely dry and desertlike in nature.280 However, the northern regions enjoy a milder Mediterranean climate.[148]281

Six ecoregions lie within Libya's borders: Saharan halophytics, Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe, Mediterranean woodlands and forests, North Saharan steppe and woodlands, Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands, and West Saharan montane xeric woodlands.[149]282