5 September – 11 September: Tripoli militias sign UNSMIL eight point agreement

Sep 11, 2018 | Libyan actors

On 9 September, UNSMIL initiated a meeting that gathered together the key rival factions involved in the militia clashes in Tripoli that began on 26 August. The groups signed an eight-point agreement that included a pledge to refrain from extorting sovereign institutions. Reports suggest that there is another UNSMIL-mediated meeting amongst the factions scheduled for next week. This would be the third meeting in over a fortnight between the competing factions, with the first meeting on 4 September that initiated the current ceasefire. Despite this there have been continuous low-level skirmishes between the militia groups.

It remains unclear what territory each particular militia holds following the clashes, with each faction making claims and counter claims about what they control. From preliminary observations the Tripoli based militias, including the TRB, Nawasi, and Abu Salim Central Security Brigade, are now all encircled by external forces. It is worth pointing out that none of these groups were represented in the first UN-brokered negotiation table, leaving representation presumably to the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) Minister of Interior Abdussalm Ashour, as the official representative for GNA-affiliated Tripoli armed groups.