Violent militia clashes erupted over the Eid holidays in Zawia leading to at least four deaths and over a hundred evacuated. The clashes were revenge attacks over the killing of a member of one of the two militias by a member of the other. An initial ceasefire on 24 April was negotiated by the local 103 Battalion, commanded by Othman Al-Lahab. He said the government was ignoring what is happening in the fourth largest Libyan city – only 40 kilometres away from its PM’s office. The continuing militia clashes in Zawia – just 49 km and less than an hour’s drive west of Tripoli – is indicative of the limited power of the Tripoli based Libyan government of Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba.
