ALBAWABA - Following months of deadly clashes in Tripoli, Libya, armed militias, who have been in control of the city for more than a decade, have finally agreed to leave Tripoli after striking a deal with the government.
Interior Minister Imad Trabelsi, a member of the internationally acknowledged government, announced that after extensive discussions, a deal had been reached for regular soldiers to police Tripoli. He told journalists there would only be emergency police, city officers, and criminal investigators in their place.
Trabelsi stated in a press conference that the militia's "place is in their headquarters" from now on and that the government in Libya "will use them only in exceptional circumstances for specific missions".
He stated that once they had left the capital, other cities would follow, saying that there "will be no more checkpoints and no more armed groups" on routes.
The militias in question are heavily armed and control vast portions of the city. The list includes the General Security Force, the Special Deterrence Force, and Brigade 444.
The agreement will require at least five armed groups to leave Tripoli before the end of the month of Ramadan on April 9, including one based in an area where ten people were killed over the weekend.
The groups' visible presence in Tripoli included them wearing masks and setting up checkpoints on roadways with armored vehicles carrying mounted guns. However, they frequently fought each other, including one event in August that killed 55 people and injured almost 150.
They are not under the direct command of the Libyan government, but do receive public funding. Their operational independence was granted by a special status conveyed on them in 2021 by the government, the BBC reported.
