Crisis Chronology

LIBYA

09/14/2023

Death toll estimate raised to more than 10000, with another 10000 missing. The worst-hit area is around the city of Derma in the east. Elements of the two governments are cooperating in rescue and humanitarian efforts.

09/12/2023

At least 6000 are known dead, and many tens of thousands displaced, as the damage and deaths have the potential to create widespread illness and cause more deaths.

09/11/2023

Tropical Storm Daniel causes two dams to collapse and resulting drastic flooding kills at least 2000, while more than 10000 are missing.

08/16/2023

Serious fighting in Tripoli between 444th Brigade and Special Deterrence Force militias. Militias have proliferated in the west, where the national government has been unable to gain control and the militias fight for advantage with it. The fighting began when the head of the leader of the 444th Brigade, Mahmoud Hamza was detained by the Special Deterence Force, and ended when he was released. The two forces are both allied with the UN-backed Tripoli government.

06/06/2023

Eastern and western governments say they have agreed on legal steps to hold elections, but UN envoy says critical issues remain.

03/16/2023

Eastern and western military leaders of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR) and the Tripoli-based High Council of State (HCS) say they will work together to hold “free and fair” elections this year. A negotiating group called the 6+6 committee is formed to do so.

10/27/2022

UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily holds meeting of 5+5 Joint Military Council, bringing together the top five military commanders of eastern and western Libyan forces.

10/25/2022

Dbeibah and Bashagha reported to both be in Turkey today, although there are no reports that they will meet. Kaled al-Mishri, chairman of Libya’s High Council of State is reported to also be in Turkey. Al-Mishri recently met with Aguila Saleh, speaker of the eastern Libyan House of Representatives, and the reportedly agreed to try to form a unity government with new leadership.

09/21/2022

Haftar calls for a popular revolution to overthrow 2/5/21/. Muhammad Yunus Al-Manfi chosen to be president of the Libyan Presidential Council, which was established by the Libyan Political Agreement of 12/17/15. The council is to carry out the functions of the head of state and to take control of the Libyan military.

08/28/2022

Tripoli quiet, patrolled by militias. Death toll reached thirty.

08/27/2022

Rival militias supporting the rival governments exchange fire in Tripoli. Twelve are killed.

07/18/2022

Dbeibeh announces an alliance with Haftar in an effort to maintain the ceasefire.

07/11/2022

Bashagha says he will again attempt to enter Tripoli and take office as prime minister. He says that some of the military no longer oppose his taking office.

07/01/2022

Protestors storm the parliament building in Tobruk, demanding an end to the political stalemate and improvement in deteriorating living conditions.

05/17/2022

Baghdada enters Tripoli to take control of the government there, but fighting breaks out and he leaves.

05/10/2022

Parliament in the east tells Bashagha to be based in Sirte, an acknowledgement that it does not have any strength in Tripoli.

04/18/2022

Haftar’s forces in eastern Libya force the closing of major oil terminals. This may be an attempt to force the Tripoli government to recognize the Bashaga regime.

04/14/2022

Bashagha representatives and Dbeibah representatives meet in Egypt to work on a plan for holding national elections

03/11/2022

Rival armed groups supporting Dbeibah and Bachagha face off in Tripoli but disperse after diplomatic efforts.

03/08/2022

Libyan Transitional Council of Ministers headed by Abdelhamid Dbeibah has suspended the implementation of an agreement with the United Nations on gender equality in view of its “conflict” with Sharia law. The UN agreement has sparked controversy in Libya, and as east and west governments continue to spar Dbeibah is attempting to increase popular support for his government.

03/01/2022

Eastern parliament approves Bachagha’s government, complicating the peace process.

02/24/2022

Bachagha announces the formation of a new government that he will present to the Tripoli House of Representatives and the High Council.

02/24/2022

High Council of State adjourns session on forming a new government after a power outage and shooting nearby.

02/22/2022

Debeibah insists that replacing him could trigger war and says that the government intends to hold elections in June. That may be unrealistic.

02/11/2022

Dbeibah promises he will submit a new election law to the House of Representatives. There are some protests against the appointment of Bashagha.

02/11/2022

Tobruk parliament appoints former Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga as the new prime minister, a blow to UN-backed efforts to create a stable government. It has criticized Dbeibah for not holding elections in 12/21 as recommended by the UN plan. The parliament also passes a set of constitutional amendments that would lead toward an elected government.

02/10/2022

Dbeibah escapes an assassination attempt. The eastern parliament votes today on replacing him as prime minister, but he has said he will ignore the vote.

02/08/2022

Parliament to name new prime minister this week. Leading candidates are former Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga and Minister-Counsellor Khalid al-Baibas. Speaker of Parliament Aguila Saleh says that a vote will be held after consultation with the High Council of State. The UN advocates new elections before a prime minister is appointed. There is concern that the prime minister election could result in another schism between east and west. Saleh said lawmakers adopted a roadmap to hold the presidential election within 14 months after agreeing on constitutional amendments. A parliamentary committee is scheduled to hold consultations with the High Council of State to craft the needed amendments within a week. Khaled al-Mishri, head of the council, said members have agreed with the parliament to adopt a defined roadmap for elections even as a new government is appointed.

02/08/2022

Parliament to name new prime minister this week. Leading candidates are former Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga and Minister-Counsellor Khalid al-Baibas. Speaker of Parliament Aguila Saleh says that a vote will be held after concastillcastisultation with the High Council of State. The UN advocates new elections before a prime minister is appointed. There is concern that the prime minister election could result in another schism between east and west. Saleh said lawmakers adopted a roadmap to hold the presidential election within 14 months after agreeing on constitutional amendments. A parliamentary committee is scheduled to hold consultations with the High Council of State to craft the needed amendments within a week. Khaled al-Mishri, head of the council, said members have agreed with the parliament to adopt a defined roadmap for elections even as a new government is appointed.

12/22/2021

Electoral Commission dissolves election committees nationwide, effectively postponing the election. The Board suggests 1/24/22 as the new election date.

12/10/2021

Election commission fails to publish the list of presidential candidates by today’s deadline. Since candidates by law have two weeks to campaign, the 12/24 election will have to be postponed.

12/02/2021

A court reinstates Gaddafi to the election list and the electoral commission accepts the decision. It is not clear how the decision was made.

11/25/2021

Election commission bars Gaddafi from running because of past convictions for violence against protestors. He was cleared by a court in the eastern regime.

11/18/2021

Speaker of eastern parliament Aguila Saleh announced candidacy for president.

11/16/2021

General Khalifa Haftar announces candidacy for president.

11/14/2021

Said Gaddafi, Moammar Gaddafi’s son, announces candidacy for president for 12/24 election. Also likely to run are General Khalifa Haftar, a warlord supported by the Gulf states and Russia; Aguila Saleh, the influential parliamentary speaker; and PM Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, head of the UN-backed National Unity Government (though he is unsure whether his current position allows him to run).

11/07/2021

Wrangling over election law continues, but the national electoral commission announces that it will accept registration for presidential and parliamentary positions on 11/8/21.

11/07/2021

Presidential council suspends Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush for conducting foreign policy without authorization. Mangoush had hinted at extradition to the US for a suspected Lockerbie bomber. However, the transitional government, which oversees the council, rejects the suspension.

10/22/2021

Protests in support of migrants and refugees that have been jailed, at least 5000 this month.

10/04/2021

Government reports “a very modest start” to the withdrawal of foreign troops, following the 2020 peace agreement.

09/21/2021

Lower house of parliament, based in Tobruk, passes a no-confidence vote in the government of interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, but the upper house, the High Council of State, in Tripoli, rejects it, saying that it was passed without a quorum. Elections scheduled for 12/24 seem increasingly unlikely to happen.

08/31/2021

Foreign Minister says the government is making every effort to hold elections on 12/24, but that they may be delayed. She spoke after meeting with a UN representative warned that the government had not finalized legal framework for holding the elections.

06/20/2021

The Libyan Presidential Council bans all unauthorized military movement in the country, after forces loyal to Libyan National Army leader Khalifa Haftar announce that they have seized control of the southern border with Algeria earlier in the day. The seizure was the first major military operation of its type since the ceasefire was signed last October.

03/10/2021

Parliament approves new interim government.

02/21/2021

Libyan former Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha escapes assassination attempt. He has made some groups angry by saying militias had to be demobilized and integrated into the national army. He is the only announced candidate for president for the election 12/24/21.

02/06/2021

Interim prime minister chosen

Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, a businessman-turned-politician, has been chosen Libya’s new interim prime minister in United Nations-sponsored talks. He will, along with a three-member Presidential Council, prepare for national elections in 12/21.

01/25/2021

Government and Hiftar group agree to a process that will name candidates for key government posts. It will begin 1/26 and run until 2/2.

11/16/2020

Talks end without full agreement on a peace plan. They will resume in a week.

10/23/2020

Ceasefire agreement

Government and Hiftar agree on a permanent ceasefire.

09/18/2020

Hiftar announces conditional lifting of oil port blockade.

09/16/2020

Al-Sarraj announces that he would like to resign by the end of October. UN extends peacekeeping mission for twelve months.

09/14/2020

The government of the eastern government resigns amid protests.

09/12/2020

Protestors set fire to eastern government headquarters.

09/11/2020

Large protests in the east over living conditions and corruption.

09/10/2020

Russian aircraft supporting Hiftar’s forces.

09/10/2020

Delegations reach agreement on key criteria for institutional appointments.

09/09/2020

The rival governments agree on the need for compromise. "The two parties hope to secure positive and concrete results that will clear the way to achieving the process of a comprehensive political settlement," a spokesman says.

09/06/2020

Rival governments hold talks, called “the Libyan dialogue,” in Morocco.

08/21/2020

Prime minister Fayez Sarraj announces a cease-fire throughout Libya simultaneously with a call by Aguila Saleh, speaker of the eastern-based House of Representatives, which supports Hiftar, for a cease-fire. Both also call for a lifting of the blockade of oil parts imposed by Hiftar earlier this year.

07/20/2020

Parliament approves resolution to allow the military to intervene in Libya.

07/11/2020

Hiftar says that blockade of oil refineries will continue.

06/24/2020

Speaker of the eastern parliament asks Egypt to intervene of the GNA attacks Sirte.

06/24/2020

Speaker of the eastern parliament asks Egypt to intervene of the GNA attacks Sirte.

06/22/2020

Government calls Egypt’s talk of direct intervention in Libya a “declaration of war.”

06/20/2020

Egyptian Pres el-Sisi says that if the Libyan GNA advance on the city of Sirte, Egypt may have to intervene because the border with Libya is very porous.

06/07/2020

Egypt offers cease-fire plan approved by Hiftar, but GNA says that it will not consider discussions until it has recaptured Sirte and an inland airbase, Jufra.

06/06/2020

Hiftar says that it is time for negotiation and initiates unilateral peace effort.

06/05/2020

Hiftar confirms that his forces are leaving Tripoli. The GNA says it has penetrated to the center of Tarhuna, west of Tripoli, said to be a stronghold for Hiftar.

06/04/2020

GNA says that they have taken control of Tripoli from Hiftar’s forces.

05/24/2020

The Wagnar Group, Russian mercenaries, leave Hiftar’s military.

05/19/2020

Government forces continue to recapture territory.

05/18/2020

Government forces recapture al-Watiya airport from Hiftar’s forces.

05/11/2020

GNA forces counterattack intensively.

05/10/2020

Hiftar’s forces attack Libya airport controlled by the GNA.

05/05/2020

GNA forces attempt to retake al-Watiya airbase lost to Hiftar in 2014.

04/30/2020

Hiftar announces cease-fire during Ramadan

04/28/2020

Government denounces Hiftar’s latest announcement as a “coup.”

04/27/2020

Hiftar announces that he has accepted the “popular mandate” to rule Libya, abrogating the 2015 agreement for the unity government.

04/19/2020

National government forces continue to make progress against Hiftar’s forces in the northwest.

04/15/2020

Government forces capture two strategically important cities in the west.

04/01/2020

Haftar forces suffer heavy losses in battle for Tripoli.

03/25/2020

Libya confirms its first case of COVID-19.

03/09/2020

Hiftar says he will sign the UN peace agreement during a meeting with Pres Macron in Paris.

02/12/2020

After the UN Security Council passes a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Libya, Hiftar’s forces say they will not allow the UN to use the only functioning airport in Tripoli. The UN has said that flight restrictions are hampering humanitarian efforts in Libya. Though Hiftar has not been able to breach Tripoli’s defenses, he has air superiority because of UAE-supplied drones, which cover all of Libya. Turkey has supplied the Tripoli government with drones. Libyan army denies that they are blocking UN planes, saying that the planes can land at Misrata, but they will not allow landings at an airport “controlled by a colonizer (Turkey).”

02/03/2020

UN mediator says that Libya opposition groups show genuine will to negotiate a cease-fire.

01/20/2020

Berlin conference on Libya. Foreign powers agree to remove their troops. Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Russian mercenaries and African troops are backing military strongman Khalifa Haftar while Turkey and the United Nations back the Tripoli-based government. Neither Libyan side agrees to meet face to face, but they do each agree to send military committee to represent themselves at the talks. Ports remain blocked.

01/17/2020

Major oil ports are blocked by supporters of Haftar as Berlin conference on Libyan cease-fire begins.

01/14/2020

Hiftar does not sign cease-fire agreement, following al-Saraj’s signature on 1/13. It is thought that he feared the GNA could not control its allied militias and that Turkey might resupply the GNA troops. Hiftar currently controls most of the land area of Libya, but the GNA territory has the larger population.

01/13/2020

Al-Sarraj and Hiftar go to Russia for consultations about the war. It is not known if they will meet face-to-face, but they may sign the cease-fire agreement.

01/12/2020

Both sides affirm commitment to the cease-fire and accuse the other of breaking it.

01/12/2020

After Hiftar’s troops pledge to halt attack on Tripoli, the national government accuses them of breaking the ceasefire.

01/07/2020

Turkey and Russia open TurkStream pipeline, which will make Turkey an energy provider to the EU. However, the two countries, while moving closer, still differ over Syria and Libya. The pipeline will also provide natural gas to Bulgaria, bypassing Ukraine.

01/07/2020

Hiftar’s forces capture Sirte, a strategic site near oil terminals that they control. Turkish troops have not yet arrived in support of the national government.

12/28/2019

Head of parliament in eastern Libya, Aguila Saleh, says Turkey’s sending troops to Libya is “unacceptable.”

12/26/2019

Turkey says it will deploy troops in Libya in support of Government of National Accord.

12/18/2019

Pres Putin and Pres Erdogan discuss the situation in Libya. The internationally recognized Libyan government has been supported by Italy, Qatar, and Turkey. Haftar has been supported by France and some Arab countries including the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Russia has been accused of supporting Hiftar, but denies it.

12/18/2019

Pres Putin and Pres Erdogan discuss the situation in Libya. The internationally recognized Libyan government has been supported by Italy, Qatar, and Turkey. Haftar has been supported by France and some Arab countries including the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Russia has been accused of supporting Hiftar, but denies it. The division among Arab Muslim governments largely depends on whether they oppose Islamist political organizations, specifically the Muslim Brotherhood, opposed by Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

12/12/2019

Hiftar announces that he will begin a “decisive battle” to win Tripoli.

12/10/2019

Turkey and Libya announce an agreement allowing Turkey to drill for natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean. Greece announces that it has filed a formal protest with the UN over the agreement.

12/07/2019

US says that Russians shot down an unarmed drone over Libya.

11/21/2019

US officials meeting with representatives of Hiftar and there are fears that the US will end its support of the internationally recognized government. Earlier this month, the US called for Hiftar’s forces to end their attack on Tripoli, but in the past, Pres Trump has praised Hiftar, who has dual US-Libyan citizenship and has worked with the CIA in the past.

11/15/2019

War remains largely in stalemate.

11/06/2019

Russia is increasingly involved in the Libyan war on the side of Hiftar. Russia has provided air support, armaments, and weapons. More recently, there is evidence that Russian snipers are fighting. Russia is following much the same pattern as it used to take control in Syria.

10/16/2019

Skirmishes in southern Tripoli between Haftar’s forces and unity government forces as the fighting drags on without resolution.

09/25/2019

In reversal, Haftar says that there should be “dialogue,” but not as long as “terrorist groups and criminals” control Tripoli. He is presumably referring to the militias that support the national unity government. At the UN, Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj calls Haftar a “war criminal.”

06/02/2019

Government makes gains against Hiftar’s forces.

05/05/2019

UN calls for a truce in Libya.

04/30/2019

Fighting continues south of Tripoli.

04/30/2019

House-to-house fighting as GNA pushes back against Hiftar’s forces.

04/23/2019

GNA troops push Hiftar’s forces south of Tripoli.

04/19/2019

Trump praises Hiftar after a phone call with him, resulting in protests in Tripoli.

04/19/2019

Yellow Vest protests in Libya accuse France of supporting Hiftar. France says it is opposed to the attack, though it has supported Hiftar in the past.

04/13/2019

Egyptian Pres Sisi supports Hifter.

04/09/2019

Continuing fighting in Tripoli. One member of the Government of National Accord defects to the Tobruk government, currently led by Aguila Saleh Issa.

04/09/2019

Local and regional militias fighting Hifter to a standoff in Tripoli.

04/04/2019

Hifter’s forces make a surprise advance on Tripoli. Militias there fight back. Hifter is said to have lost control of most of eastern Libya. An electrical blackout hits the entire country. There are rumors that Russia is supporting Hifter

02/13/2019

EU adds Saudi Arabia, Panama, and Libya, among others, to its list of countries scrutinized for money laundering and terrorist financing.

11/12/2018

Meetings in Italy result in united statement of progress on a plan forward, which would include a national conference and elections. Although Haftar is said to be in agreement, there is no written plan.

10/14/2018

Outcry over reported military attack on boat full of migrants. Morocco becomes a focus for migrants now that Italy and Libya have restricted human smuggling.

09/10/2018

Militants storm the National Oil Corporation headquarters.

09/08/2018

Reports that France is supporting Haftar in order to gain access to Libyan oil and supporting elections in Libya to legitimize Haftar, who is now calling the Italians an enemy.

09/05/2018

Some continuing fighting in Tripoli, including by the Bab Tajoura militia in the west of the city.

09/04/2018

UN says that a ceasefire agreement has been reached to end a week of fighting in Tripoli after the Seventh Brigade attacked rival militias.

06/29/2018

Haftar announces that Derna has been recaptured, though militias dispute this.

06/18/2018

Haftar’s forces begin attack to retake the oil terminals.

06/14/2018

Militias drive Haftar’s Libyan National Army out of oil terminals in the east.

06/05/2018

Haftar’s National Liberation Army advancing in Derna, site of humanitarian crisis currently controlled by Islamic forces.

11/08/2017

UN-brokered talks on unification of Libyan government moving forward, but still no agreement on control of the military and the role of warlord Khalifa Haftar.

12/17/2015

Unity government agreement

Under UN auspices, the Government of National Unity (GNA) is formed. It creates a Presidency Council and names Fayez al-Sarraj as prime minister of the GNA based in Tunis. The two rival parliaments, the Libyan House of Representatives (loyal to Field Marshal Hiftar) and the General National Council (loyal to the GNA), signed a Declaration of Principles to create a national unity government.