Factional violence in Libya (2011–2014)

Following the end of the First Libyan Civil War, which overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, there was violence involving various militias and the new state security forces. This violence has escalated into the Second Libyan Civil War (2014–2020).

Factional violence in Libya
Part of the Libyan Crisis (2011–present) (aftermath of the First Libyan Civil War)

Militiamen in the streets of Tripoli after skirmishes, January 2012. Since the end of the First Libyan Civil War, armed militias had clashed throughout the country.
Date1 November 2011 – 16 May 2014
(2 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Libya
Result

Indecisive; Start of the Second Libyan Civil War

  • Warfalla militias briefly seize control of Bani Walid; Bani Walid is retaken by government forces by November 2012
  • Omran Shaban the man most held for the extrajudicial killing of Gaddafi died violently from injuries he received from Gaddafi loyalists in Bani Walid
  • Attacks on foreign diplomatic missions in Benghazi and Tripoli by Islamist militias
  • Several militias disbanded and routed by the government in western Libya.
  • Kidnapping of Libyan Prime Minister (October 2013)
  • Militias remain armed in eastern Libya.
  • Two coup attempts by General Khalifa Haftar in 2014 (2014 Libyan coup d'état attempt)
  • Large scale collapse of government and threat of new civil war.
  • Tripoli International Airport captured by Islamist militias
Belligerents

Libyan National Army

  • Special Forces (Saiqa brigade)
  • Libyan Air Force
  • Libyan Navy

Government-sanctioned local militias

  • Supreme Security Committee

Various militias

  • Gaddafi loyalists
  • Toubou Front for the Salvation of Libya
  • General Haftar forces:
    • Zintan Brigade
    • Pro Haftar Libyan National Army factions
    • Mashashya tribe (alleged)
    • Katibat Al-Awfiyah brigade
    • Al-Awfea brigade (alleged)

Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries

Commanders and leaders
Col. Wanis Bukhamada (Special Forces and Benghazi commander)

Col. Salem Al-waer

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
Gen. Khalifa Haftar		 Salim Derby †
Mohamed Ali al-Zahawi †
Ahmed Abu Khattala (POW)
942–1,096 killed in 2011–2012
233 killed in 2014

The militias included guerrillas, Islamists, and militias who fought against Gaddafi but refused to lay down their arms when the war ended in October 2011. According to some civilian leaders, these latter militias shifted from merely delaying the surrender of their weapons to actively asserting a continuing political role as "guardians of the revolution". Some of the largest, and most well-equipped militias were associated with Islamist groups that were forming political parties. Before the official end of hostilities between loyalist and opposition forces, there were reports of sporadic clashes between rival militias, and vigilante revenge killings.

In September 2012, Islamists attacked the United States consulate building in Benghazi, killing the US ambassador and three others. This prompted a popular outcry against semi-legal militias that were still operating and resulted in the storming of several Islamist militia bases by protesters. A large-scale government crackdown followed on non-government sanctioned militias, with the Libyan Army raiding several now illegal militias' headquarters and ordering them to disband.

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