On 24 June, the South Liberation Operations Room (SLOR), led by Mohamed Warduko, attacked the Libyan National Army’s (LNA) Ze’ataria marginal checkpoint near the Brak Shatti area and arrested six LNA soldiers. While the SLOR officially claimed the incident and released a videotape of the six detainees, some suggest that the detainees were initially arrested by the Tripoli-based 444 Brigade and then transferred to the SLOR.
Conflicting statements between the SLOR and LNA intensified in the first half of this month. On 2 July, the SLOR announced in a statement that it had arrested an LNA covert cell that had infiltrated the group and was attempting to send coordinates and intelligence to the LNA. On 10 July, pro-LNA social media accounts announced that LNA had attacked a SLOR desert post and recovered massive quantities of arms and munition, including a 1,000 PKT, (a Soviet-designed, vehicle-mounted machine gun). The SLOR refuted the news, daring LNA to reveal videos and pictures of the seized arms and munition it had claimed to seize.