Kufra: The Unseen Conflict
Deep in the southeastern Libyan desert lies the oasis town of Kufra. This town, which sits along the roads to Chad and Sudan, has recently seen heavy fighting between local tribes, the ethnically Arab Bedouin Zawaya Tribe and the Tebu tribes. Fighting has also drawn in actors from bordering countries, such as Tebu from Chad and Sudan. Several ceasefires disintegrated, before the most recent agreement entered into effect on October 18. However, there remains the threat of violence, as tribal friction and outside actors could reignite the already fragile situation in the city.
Kufra’s location makes it ideal for cross-border smuggling, both in goods and human beings. The city is an important hub on the trans-African refugee smuggling routes, which have taken advantage of the political chaos in Libya to traffic refugees to Europe and elsewhere. There is also the possibility that this pipeline will facilitate foreign fighters joining the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) or one of the number of al-Qaeda-linked groups in Libya. While unconfirmed, rumors circulated of an ISIS “convoy” traveling to reinforce ISIS’ stronghold in Sirte from Sudan via Kufra in early July 2015.
Tribal fighting is not new to the Kufra area. Far removed from the Mediterranean coast where the vast majority of the country’s population lives and isolated deep in the desert to the south, the Kufra district has not been under full control of the Libyan Government(s) since the fall of Ghaddafi in 2011 . In 2012, heavy fighting between the Zawaya and Tebu Tribes killed over one hundred after Zawaya fighters besieged Tebu-populated areas of the city. After a brief period of calm mediated by the National Transitional Council, Zawaya tribal fighters shelled Tebu areas again in late June and early July, killing nearly fifty. Fighting then petered out, likely due to mediation efforts by tribal delegations and government representatives from the north. However, the underlying friction between the two communities remained.
Sporadic fighting near Kufra city reignited in mid-May 2015, as clashes at the southern Jalu gate area forced a number of residents living there to evacuate. The reason behind the fighting was unclear, although it appears that the insecurity in the desert areas surrounding Kufra, including highway robbery, may have contributed.Through June and July the city and surrounding areas saw further descent into violence. On 23 July, unidentified gunmen opened fire on Bangladeshi workers, killing two. The next day, a local civilian was shot dead. Fighting between armed Tebu tribesmen and Zawaya fighters on the outskirts of the city and within Kufra, led to nearly twenty civilian deaths the last week of July and culminated on 31 July with an unidentified group, possibly Tebu militias, attempting to break into the city, shelling residential areas with heavy artillery and burning as many as sixty homes in the al-Nassij neighborhood to displace residents.
Shelling and low level clashes continued throughout August, and by 04 September, the Zawaya tribe claimed to have control over all entrances to the city. However, the city remained besieged by Tebu fighters, as residents began to face growing humanitarian crisis, brought on both by the fighting and the blockade of desert supply routes. On 11 September, both sides agreed to a ceasefire, negotiated by the mayor of the city, to alleviate the suffering of residents of the city. However, the truce disintegrated nine days later, as a Tebu armed convoy of some twenty vehicles, supported by foreign allies, launched an attack in another attempt to take the city. While the attack failed, it set back peace negotiations and prolonged the humanitarian crisis in Kufra.
On 14 October, after months of clashes, both Tebu and Zawaya tribal leaders signed yet another peace deal, after a week of negotiations moderated by a parliamentary delegation from the Tobruq government. Under the terms of the accord, both sides would establish a joint twelve member council to monitor a ceasefire. The agreement also guaranteed that the Kufra airport would remain neutral to facilitate the transportation of medical supplies and airlifting of wounded to hospitalss. The roads into Kufra, particularly the Jalu and Rabaniya highways, would be reopened, and stay unmolested by tribal fighters. This peace deal entered into effect on 18 October, and since its implementation, Kufra has, for the most part, remained committed to peace and stability. One minor tribal clash on 25 October straining the terms of the agreement, but hitherto there has not been a descent back into violence, although tensions remain.
While the fighting between the Tebu and Zawaya is to some degree a local tribal conflict, both sides have sought support from different actors both from within Libya and from neighboring countries. The Tebu tribes in particular are often accused of using foreign “mercenaries,” a reference to ethnic Tebu fighters who cross the Sudanese and Chadian borders to fight with the Libyan Tebu. The Tebu attack on Kufra on 20 September was also supported by forces from the Sudanese Liberation Movement’s Minnawi Faction, a Darfur-based Sudanese rebel group. The SLM commander involved in the attack, Abdul Karim Adam Arjah, was killed during the fighting, and the SLM vowed to vengeance. Tebu forces also appear to have a degree of backing from ethnically Tebu members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), who stopped a Red Crescent aid convoy heading to Kufra on 07 October, refusing to let the convoy continue until a number of Tebu demands were met.
The Zawaya tribe also has a degree of support from other political entities in Libya. During the 2012 clashes, the tribe fought alongside the Shield Militia, which would later side with the GNC as part of the Libya Dawn coalition. Shield Militia forces also are likely linked to the various Islamist Shura Councils, and the 12 October announcement by the Ajdabiya “rebels” (i.e. allies of the Ajdabiya Shura Council and Ansar al-Sharia) of the formation of a “Liberation of the South” Brigade was likely intended to create a unit to reinforce Zawaya tribal forces within the Kufra.
While some pro-Libya Dawn sources have accused the Tobruq Government-allied Libyan National Army (LNA) of supporting the Tebu and their foreign allies, the LNA has not played a major role in the Kufra conflict, nor does it have a sizeable presence in the city. The primary role of LNA forces has come in the form of helicopter airlifts, which have been used to bring in supplies and ferry wounded civilians to hospitals. After the 20 September Tebu armed convoy attack on the city, LNA General Command ordered the commander of the Kufra District, Colonel Mohammed al-Ghawi, to use all means necessary to deal with any future convoy approaching the city without authorization. LNA helicopter gunships also provided air cover for the October Red Crescent aid convoy to the embattled city. It is unlikely that the LNA is directly supporting foreign fighters in Kufra, but rather has been playing a limited neutral role there.
The situation in Kufra is currently tenuous, with the current peace deal holding. However, the potential remains for fighting to erupt between the two sides. Kufra is an isolated location deep in the heart of the southern Libyan desert, but conflict there has the potential to spill over, not only further north into the rest of Libya, but also Libya’s neighbors as well.
