On 9 February, in Ghariyan-Ghout al-Rih (a town located about 100km south of Tripoli at the edge of the Nafousa Mountains), the local HQ of the Counterterrorism Force (CTF) was attacked and occupied by members of the Ghariyan Branch of the Stability Support Agency (SSA) and the 555th Infantry Battalion (InfBn).
CTF troops headed from Tajoura towards Ghariyan during the night. Elements of the 555th InfBn and the SSA Ghariyan took blocking positions on the northern edge of Ghariyan and in al-Hira (approx. 20 km north of Ghariyan).
Subsequently, the CTF mobilized all its troops in Misrata, Khoms and Tajoura. Several convoys left for Ghariyan under the leadership of Mukhtar al-Jahawi, commander of the CTF reserve force. In Misrata, several more militias were alerted and put on marching alert. The SSA commander Abdul Ghani al-Kikli (aka Ghinaywa) then mobilized SSA forces in Abu Salim (in southern Tripoli).
The following day, talks were mediated between Ghinaywa and al-Jahawi and brought about an easing of the situation. The talks were mediated by Abdussalam Zoubi, the commander of Prime Minister Abdul Hameed Dabaiba’s Joint Force.
The CTF members arrested in Ghariyan were released and the HQ has been reopened. The CTF troops from Misrata and Tajoura as well as the SSA reinforcements from Tripoli have not advanced as far as Ghariyan.