After the initial success of the swift operation on 12 May by pro-Dabaiba armed group against Abdul Ghani al-Kikli aka Ghinaywa, commander of the Stability Support Agency (SSA), the security situation in the capital quickly deteriorated over the following hours, with central Tripoli witnessing some very heavy fighting.
On 13 May, after the killing of Ghinaywa, PM Abdul Hameed Dabaiba ordered several security sector reforms, including the disbanding of certain security units loyal to Ghinaywa. Around the same time, the 444 Brigade began assuming control of several prisons from the Judicial Police (linked to the Special Deterrence Force (Rada)). Additionally, Dabaiba replaced key figures loyal to Ghinaywa in pivotal institutions—including the leadership of the Internal Security Agency (ISA)—with his own loyalists. That evening, protests erupted in Souq al-Jumaa, with demonstrators condemning what they viewed as a Misrata-led takeover of Tripoli and demanding Dabaiba’s resignation.
On 14 May, following PM Dabaiba’s order to disband Rada, the Rada forces launched an early morning offensive. They and their allies from Souq al-Jumaa and Tajoura managed to seize most of the territory within the 2nd Ring Road, from Souq al-Thulatha to Tajoura, except for the area around al-Sikka Road (where the PM Office and the NOC HQ are located) and some other locations, in some very intensive and bloody fighting.
Simultaneously, militias from Zawiyya and Wershefana, led by Muhammed Bahroun aka al-Far, advanced on Tripoli from the west. They attacked the Zintani-led Public Security Force in al-Seyaheyya and al-Serraj, apparently to divert forces from the Rada conflict. Among others, these western militias took the Regatta Diplomatic Resort.