forces. This officially liberated the country, but the fighting didn’t end. And now, almost

3 years later, the violence may be getting worse. The US has closed its embassy there,

and just this week, the United Arab Emirates, along with help from Egypt, conducted secret

airstrikes inside the country. So, what is currently going on in Libya, and who’s on

which side?

Well, the fighters in this conflict generally fall into two groups: those who want a democratically

elected central government, and those who oppose that idea. Which seems to imply that

there is a unified central government in Libya, when in reality, there isn’t.

As of August 25th, The Central Government itself is currently in flux. And this is nothing

new for Libya; since 2011, the country has had three different governmental structures.

They were initially run by the National Transitional Council. This is the group that defeated Gaddafi,

and controlled the country until elections could be established. Then, after the 2012

elections, power was handed over to the General National Congress. This was established by

popular vote and highly influenced by The Muslim Brotherhood. After an 18 month period,

the General National Congress was unable to establish a constitution or a stable leadership,

so in the following elections, held this June, the people voted to replace the General National

Congress with a new government body called the House Of Representatives. As of August

25th, this was the new central Government in Libya… But the General National Congress

has refused to recognize it, so there may soon be two separate parliaments and two separate

Prime Ministers vying for power in Libya.

On top of all of this, most of the Central Government’s military forces are led by

General Khalifa Haftar (Ca-LEE-fa HAFF-tar). They mostly operate outside of governmental

control and may have recently organized a failed military coup. In short, it’s a mess.

But it’s still better organized than the last group we’re going to discuss.

Libya is rife with Islamic Militant groups, regional militias, and foreign terrorist networks,

all of which are fighting for control of different parts of the country. They sometimes unite

for larger operations, like their recent takeover of a major airport in Tripoli, but they all

have their own leadership and allegiances.

That is the general state of things in Libya. And with all of that said, you may still be

wondering on which side Egypt and the United Arab Emirates fall.

Well, the new Egyptian Government, The United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia have been

very active in the region recently, trying to combat the rising tide of Islamic Fundamentalism.

Currently, their policy is to stay out of disputes inside the Libyan government, but

they’re more than open to fighting against anti-government fundamentalist groups, who

they see as a threat to the stability of their own countries. Which explains why they’re

carrying out airstrikes in Tripoli. They aren’t fighting the Libyan Government or General

Haftar’s troops; they’re fighting fundamentalist forces for their own purposes.

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