Southern Libya remains a region of endemic instability wracked by communal conflict, a shortage of basic services, rampant smuggling, and fragmented or collapsed institutions. The region has long existed on the periphery of Libya’s politics and international concerns—but that must change. Increasingly, the vacuum of governance in the south has drawn in political actors from northern Libya and outside states. Extremists seeking refuge in the south and migrants being smuggled through the region directly impact the security of Libya, neighboring states like Tunisia, and Europe…
2019
Conflict in Libya’s Desertic South
In an article published with The New Arab on 16 July, Austin Bodetti identifies that a conflict has developed in Southern Libya, in the desertic parts of the country inhabited by ethnic groups such as the Tebu and Tuareg. For Bodetti, the rising tensions in the desertic areas of Southern Libya results from the ongoing competition between the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) for the allegiance of the ethnic groups living in these areas.
Click here to read the article.