SUMMARY
When fighting erupted in Sebha – a strategically important oasis town located in the Fezzan region - in 2014, it was as a consequence of both national-level factors and local conflict dynamics. Since the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, Libya had been characterized by an almost complete lack of military and national security forces. As a consequence, the Libyan government was unable to contain violence between various communal groups that engaged in local or regional power struggles across the country. In Sebha, the 2014 fighting between Awlad Suleiman and Toubou fighters was a continuation of a conflict that had erupted in 2012, which had pitted Arab tribes against the Toubou for control over the town.
Tensions between the Toubou and Awlad Suleiman escalated into heavy fighting in January 2014. According to local sources, the fighting was sparked by the death of a commander linked to the Awlad Suleiman tribe; the Awlad Suleiman tribe blamed the Toubou for the death. The ensuing clashes between the two groups killed over 30 people before the Misratan Third Force – a Government of Libya-affiliated militia – intervened in the fighting. While the total death toll from the 2014 Sebha clashes was said to have been close to 100, the direct involvement of the government-affiliated Third Force on the side of the Awlad Suleiman meant that much of the violence failed to fulfill the UCDP definitions of non-state violence. The fighting eventually ceased following reconciliation talks, but tensions remained high between Sebha’s various communal groups.
In February 2018, tensions between Sebha’s Awlad Suleiman and Toubou communities increased again, resulting in small-scale clashes between the two groups. By March, the fighting had escalated to involve indiscriminate shelling and sniper attacks, both against armed fighters and civilians. While the 2018 fighting was caused by the existing communal tensions in the town, the Sabha conflict became increasingly intertwined with Libya’s wider, national-level conflicts. Many of the Awlad Suleiman fighters in Sebha were attached to the self-styled “6th Brigade” militia, which was not firmly linked to any of Libya’s major political factions in the beginning of 2018. Despite its official-sounding name, this Brigade was little more than an Awlad Suleiman tribal force. By late March, the fighting in Sebha had decreased again. However, by late April, the so-called 6th Brigade appeared to have formally affiliated itself with the House of Representatives. This move infuriated the Toubou, who launched an offensive to dislodge Awlad Suleiman fighters occupying Sebha’s medieval castle. However, as this fighting episode pitted now formally organized House of Representatives forces – including the 6th Brigade – against informally organized Toubou fighters, the May clashes could not be included in the UCDP data.
The non-state conflict between Awlad Suleiman and Toubou is first included in UCDP data in 2014. In mid-January of that year, clashes between the two groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.
