During the night of 4-5 September, severe clashes took place in Khoms near the power station in the area of Souq al-Khamis, about 7 km southeast of the city centre, between a local clan and a Misrataled unit of the Intervention & Control Force (ICF). The clashes began after a member of the al-Bakoush family killed two members of the Intervention and Control Force when they tried to enter his house to arrest him. The ICF, commanded by Mustafa al-Basha, attacked the house of the al-Bakoush with heavy weapons and destroyed it.
On 5 September, the situation calmed down. Ali al-Deeb, the mayor of Khoms, confirmed that the situation in the city had stabilized ‘after the painful events that took place last night’. Al-Deeb called for the formation of a joint security room within the municipality to avoid ‘individual actions by any party or person’.
The Khoms Council of Nobles & Elders sent a letter to the notables of Misrata calling on them to end the conflict and stop the spread of violence. They emphasized that Khoms has no history of hostility with Misrata and demanded that Misrata withdraw all its militias from Khoms. Their presence in the city is totally rejected. They said Prime Minister Abdul Hameed Dabaiba is fully responsible for all this.
On 6 September, the ICF confirmed that two of its members were killed and two wounded in the raid on 4 September of what it said was one of the largest ‘drug trafficking hideouts’ in Khoms.