On 29 January, West Coast Military District Commander and Libyan Army Deputy Chief of Staff (CoS) Salaheddin al-Namroush had a meeting at the Zawiyya refinery with Chairman of Board of Directors of the Zawiya Oil Refining Company, Imad Ben Koura, directors of several departments and operating staff to discuss the fuel crisis. Closer cooperation between the military and Zawiyya refinery and a plan to secure fuel deliveries by troops was agreed.
On 31 January, a student was shot and killed in central Zawiyya in al-Qardabiya Street.
The Information Department of the West Coast Military District said there had been a campaign of fake news and false information by ‘criminal groups’ trying to discredit the ongoing military operations in Zawiyya and al-Ajilat. The population was urged not to believe these lies, which are especially spread by criminals whose factories and networks were dismantled after they had earned millions of dinars through the trade in toxins.
On 1 February, troops of the West Coast Military District started to implement the plan agreed with the leadership of the refinery in Zawiyya to secure the distribution of fuel and to limit the leakage of fuel into the parallel market and then into the hands of smugglers. According to the District, since the beginning of the operation, thousands of liters of fuel were already confiscated from the black market.