LATEST DEVELOPMENTS : A group of armed men stormed the station of Jabal al-Hasawna in south-western Libya on Sunday and cut the flow of water to Tripoli and at least other 4 main cities of the country.
As the UNO condemned the attack and more than 2 million citizens now don’t have water supply, none of the Great Powers decided to confront the situation directly. Why?
The US and the UK are fighting strong against al-Qaeda and with a look into Iran still on the radar. France should step with more power into the region but dealing with internal financial and political crisis makes this harder.
In the meantime the battle between UN-backed government and militia led by Khalifa Haftar gets bloody and threatens to make this conflict another Syria or Yemen.
PREVIOUS EVENTS
Libya is a mess. United Nations has just released a report informing about the increasing clashes in the Tripoli, the capital, adding to this a very complicated situation for civilians: random shelling and explosives have been placed on main roads hampering the evacuation of civilians and arriving of humanitarian help. Which is the biggest concern? Intel communications already talk about ISIS and Al-Qaeda operating in Libya.
The United Nations said last week that since the conflict began, at leas 102 people have lost their lives (civilians) more than 23 fatalities among those in battle and more than 45,000 people have left their homes seeking for refugee. Why is this not already a humanitarian crisis?
The complex scenario of Libya is led by those who back or maybe backed in the beginning the role of “Renegade” General Khalifa Haftar. The strongest fight started in April after Haftar started a military operation while most of his “loyal soldiers” controlled most of the east of the country including the key region of Benghazi, a headache for both the US and the UK.
When the transitional government wanted to start talks with Haftar, he did not look open to this and wants to seek most of the power (if not all) for his wing. But why this extended further in time? Haftar has a strong support: Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia. Apart from foreign powers like the US, UK, Russia or China, the only one that is not showing support (for now) inside this are is Israel. This means that only with Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Haftar can become the ruler of this new era of Libya. So what is going on with the West?
The UN Security Council, slammed by Donald Trump for it inaction against terrorist groups, looks forward to support Haftar’s government in a move to restore order in the country. Russia and China seem to be happy supporting … the conflict. In the past, Donald Trump administration admitted that Haftar might be good for stopping terrorism but now … it looks like this conflict could open the doors to ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Why?
The Pentagon has already warned (in the past) about ISIS in Libya. This was already happening before this last tension between the transition government and Haftar. One of the main issues with ISIS was some of the bombings that occurred in Egypt in the recent years, especially the attacks to Christian communities. Two groups have been confirmed to be working together in the past, and maybe now too: Al-Shabaab and ISIS. This two terrorist organisations have been linked in the smuggling of weapons, people and drugs from Africa to Egypt.
Al-Qaeda has been active in Africa too and Libya is not the exception. With Hamza Bin Laden already in charge and the CIA not talking about him, his financial tentacles might be spreading into Libya as long as this country faces a new crisis. Donald Trump must step now into Africa and help Haftar to control the country. If turmoil reigns in this key nation of the region, ISIS and Al-Qaeda might find a new place where to base their bunkers and plan their new strategies that even though they differ in the concept and ideology … they share a goal. Will Trump work for Libya and Africa and avoid the mistakes Hillary Clinton made in the past?
