On 16 July, heavy fighting between Bashir al-Bugra’s Rahbat al-Daraa Brigade and the Martyr Sabria Brigade took place in Tajoura. Heavy infantry weapons were used. The main focus of the fighting was on the coastal road from Tajoura Port to the end of the Second Ring Road.
In the course of the fighting, a factory was shelled with a mortar. Parts of the factory caught fire. The road in the area of the National Heart Centre was closed. Several families were evacuated from the combat area by the Red Crescent. The fighting was triggered by the arrest of members of the Martyr Sabria Brigade by the Rahbat alDaraa Brigade in the area of al-Tanasuh TV Channel, which is run by the Grand Mufti Sadiq al-Ghariyani.
After midnight, the Misrata Joint Force (according to other sources ‘forces of the Security Directorate’) intervened in the fighting in Tajoura on behalf of Prime Minister Abul Hameed Dabaiba and brought it to an end in conjunction with Noble & Elder mediation. The warring parties largely withdrew their troops to their bases. The situation remained tense but calm for the next few hours. All roads were open again by the morning of 17 July.
There were at least two people killed and several seriously injured in the fighting. An uninvolved woman was killed by a shot to the head. According to other sources, five men and one woman were killed. However, the mayor of Tajoura, Khalid al-Azraq, denied that there were any fatalities in the course of the fighting.