On 25 May, tensions were running high in Zawiyya following earlier clashes and a series of assassinations that claimed the lives of five people over the previous week. Several armed groups were mobilizing and preparing for a fight. Patrolling around some more important checkpoints increased.
On 26 May, UNSMIL warned that continued armed mobilization and a rise in assassinations in Zawiyya were sharply escalating the risk of renewed violence and endangering civilians. UNSMIL echoed findings of the UN Panel of Experts that rivalry among armed groups for influence and state resources is eroding security and obstructing Libya’s path to stability. The UN Mission urged all actors to protect civilians, avoid using residential areas for military purposes, and ensure independent investigations into unlawful killings and intimidation, while calling on parties to use the occasion of Eid al Adha to pursue restraint, dialogue, and reconciliation. UNSMIL stressed that safeguarding Zawiyya’s residents must take precedence over all other considerations and reaffirmed its backing for efforts to deescalate tensions and strengthen accountability.
On the same day, a militia member was killed in a hail of bullets in al-Ajilat.
On 27 May, Captain Muhammed al-Areebi, an officer in the Zawiyya Security Directorate, was assassinated near al-Hajja Mosque southwest of Zawiyya by unidentified gunmen in a drive-by shooting. The perpetrators escaped the scene immediately. According to other sources, al-Areebi belonged to the Counter Security Threats Agency, which is led by Muhammed Bahroun aka al-Far and affiliated with the Zawiyya Security Directorate, or to Force 77, a militia close to al-Far.
Subsequently, armed clashes, including the use of heavy infantry weapons, broke out along the Coastal Road. As of late evening, the clashes resulted in one killed and two wounded. The Coastal Road and several other roads in the city were closed.
The National Institution for Human Rights in Libya (NIHRL) issued a warning urging citizens and travelers along the coastal route between Zawiyya and Tripoli to remain vigilant. It also called on the warring parties to open safe humanitarian corridors and to permit emergency services, ambulance crews, and Red Crescent teams to evacuate people trapped in the fighting and transport the injured.
On 28 May in the late morning, fighting calmed down. The 52nd Infantry Brigade of the Libyan Army intervened and tried to separate the belligerent parties.
On 29 May, during the day, armed build-ups continued, while residents remained largely indoors, fearing the outbreak of renewed fighting.
A member of the Council of Elders of Zawiyya, al‑Hashimi Dakhil, warned that Zawiyya’s latest clashes stem directly from the assassination of officer Mohamed al-Areebi and will continue as long as authorities allow chaos. He said armed actors are exploiting tribal and political divisions for personal gain, while state institutions deepen fragmentation by empowering rival militias. He criticized citizens’ silence and withdrawal from public life, stressing shared responsibility for the city’s decline. Dakhil also noted that a grassroots movement is emerging to oppose disorder, with its first signs expected on 30 May. His statement was quoted and reinforced in several local media and on social platforms.
In the afternoon, a field commander of the al-Sila’a Brigade died from his wounds after he was targeted by a hail of bullets the night before near his farm in southern Zawiyya.
In the evening, fighting flared up again along the Coastal Road, at several locations in western Zawiya and in the centre of the city.
On 29 May, at least one more fighter was killed and at least two were wounded.
In total, since 27 May, at least 6 fighters were killed and ten wounded.