Nearly 150 dead within two weeks, more than 600 injured: In the Libyan capital Tripoli there are daily battles.
On the one hand, militia who are standing by General Chalifa Haftar. After the fall of dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011, Haftar had gradually defeated his opponents in eastern and southern Libya.
Now he told the troops to fight, who are on the other side and have the say in West Libya. They partly support Fayez al-Sarraj. The head of state recognized by the international community of Libya is based in Tripoli. Haftar wants to overthrow him and thus take over power in the whole country.
„Only horror“
More than 18,000 people have already fled the fighting. Also Nadjia Sogousy, housewife and mother of four daughters. The friendly, round-faced woman spoke to a Libyan colleague from the ARD Cairo studio in Tripoli:
„I’m a displaced person, bullets hit my house, then I fled, now I live with relatives, the Libyan people live in fear, just horror.“
In horror: solidarity. Young businessman Marwan Fawzi and a few of his friends help people like Nadjia whenever possible.
„We receive calls for help from families cut off from the rest of the world by the fighting, in most cases we can not get to them, we can only try to calm them down, and we advise them to take cover off of Windows and Doors Sometimes we risk getting cut-off families out of contested areas. “
Civilians – „losers in every war“
The situation is tragic inside and outside Tripoli, reports Fawzi. Families lived partly between the fronts. „Panic is spreading, it’s affecting everyone.“ The violence has terrible consequences, especially for civilians, Fawzi emphasizes: „They are losers in every war.“
In 2011, the Libyans Gaddafi crashed. Since then, chaos prevails. The 54-year-old Sogousy sees as a victim especially the youth. She’s screwed up in the face of violence. Many young men attacked the weapon themselves:
„It is a tragedy to lose the youth, but hopefully God will stop the bloodshed, alleviate the problems and bring people together.“
Demos against the war on contested roads
After that, it does not look like it. So far, the militiamen shed blood anew every day. Sogousy criticizes:
„Yes, there is civil war, and no party fights for the interests of the Libyans – when they finally hand over the offices, everyone worries and wants to assert their interests and the interests of their loved ones.“
But almost every day people in Tripoli are also taking to the streets to protest against this civil war – and against foreign powers interfering in Libya.
