On 6 and 7 May, protestors in al-Jamail, Raqdalin, Zaltan and al-Assah – all towns in the far north-west of Libya close to Zuwara and the Tunisian border – called on the Government of National Unity (GNU) to withdraw all militias from their cities within 72 hours, warning otherwise the situation would ‘escalate’ and PM Abdul Hameed Dabaiba would be responsible.
On 7 May, there were clashes between local militias and militias from Zawiyya. Sporadic fighting between local militias and militias from Zawiyya continued throughout the night. The Municipality Council and the Security Directorate of al-Jamail were also attacked by the Zawiyyan militias. At least seven people, including civilians, were wounded. On 8 May, the situation in al-Jamail was mostly calm, but very tense.
Fathi al-Hamrouni, the mayor and Head of al-Jamail Municipality Council, had called on the GNU and Western Coast Military District Commander and Libyan Army Deputy Chief of Staff (CoS) Salaheddin al-Namroush to intervene immediately to end the fighting. However, he complained on 8 May that no initiative had been taken by the GNU. He said that contact had been made with the Elders & Nobles of Zawiyya instead in order to ease the situation and achieve the withdrawal of the militias from the town.
Later on 8 May, the Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) Directorate Support Force of the Western Plain Security Directorate took over the security of al-Jamail in agreement with the Municipality and the Nobles & Elders of the town. The militias from Zawiyya partially withdrew from the city.