Libya, an oil and natural gas rich country, strategically located in the South Mediterranean, has been witness to an intense civil war ever since the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011. In the last two years, the gravity and scope of the civil war has deepened to an extent where the Libyan crisis has escaped any facile solution.
There are two primary contenders that aspire to seize the state apparatus in Libya. In 2015, the UN backed Government of National Accord (GNA) assumed power, which is currently led by Fayez al-Sarraj. The GNA has been functioning from Tripoli with firm control over western Libya. In spite of active military support from Turkey, it has been unable to establish control over the entire Libyan territory run by different militias, owing to stiff opposition from the Libyan National Army (LNA).
The LNA, led by General Khalifa Haftar, operates from the east and has controlled most of the southern parts of Libya. The LNA government based in Tobruk, in its turn, has been backed by Russia, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In essence, the involvement of external powers as well as forces such as the United Nations (UN) in the domestic affairs of Libya appears to have caused the imbroglio in Libya. Consequently, an apparently stable polity and society of Libya has been in turmoil. Any balanced appraisal of the ongoing course of civil war in Libya will be enlightening with a brief review of contemporary Libya in the context of the Gaddafi regime.
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