A day after deadly clashes shook Tripoli, Libya’s United Nations-recognised government in the west of the country has begun asserting control following the reported killing of powerful militia leader Abdelghani al-Kikli, also known as Gheniwa.

The Emergency Medicine and Support Centre confirmed it retrieved six bodies from the Tripoli neighbourhood of Abu Salim on Tuesday, after heavy fighting erupted across the capital the previous night and into the early morning. Explosions and gunfire echoed through the southern part of the city as rival armed factions clashed for several hours.

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The fighting stemmed from the killing of al-Kikli, commander of the Stability Support Authority, SSA, on Monday by a rival militia, a senior government and health official told the Associated Press news agency.

An official and local media say al-Kikli was killed during a meeting at the 444 Brigade’s base, a group loyal to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

Al-Kikli had been accused by Amnesty International of war crimes and other serious rights violations over the past decade.

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Libya analyst Jalel Harchaoui told the AFP news agency that al-Kikli had been ambushed, citing a relative. “Among Tripoli’s most successful armed group leaders,” he was known for outmanoeuvring the prime minister, the analyst added.

On Tuesday, Dbeibah declared a military operation had dismantled “irregular” armed groups. The move is seen as a direct effort to reassert state authority and strengthen his position in the capital.

“Gheniwa was de facto king of Tripoli,” Tarek Megerisi of the European Council on Foreign Relations told Reuters. “His henchmen controlled the internal security agency … cash transfers from the central bank… numerous public companies and ministries”.

Al-Kikli’s forces reportedly operated prisons and held influence over ministries and financial institutions, underscoring a significant shift in the balance of power with his death.

Clashes also spread beyond the capital, with fighting between Tripoli-based groups and rival militias from Misrata, a key coastal city to the east. Authorities imposed a temporary curfew before later announcing that calm had returned.

Libya, a major oil producer and key route for immigrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean, remains deeply divided between Dbeibah’s UN-recognised administration in the west and a rival eastern government aligned with military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Foreign powers including Turkiye, Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates continue to back opposing sides in the ongoing power struggle.

Tense calm across the capital

Dbeibah said a “military operation” had restored calm and asserted the government’s authority. “What was accomplished today shows that official institutions are capable of protecting the homeland and preserving the dignity of its citizens,” he wrote on X, praising the armed forces’ role.

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Schools across parts of the capital have been closed until further notice.

The UN mission in Libya expressed alarm over the use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas, warning that “attacks on civilians and civilian objects may amount to war crimes” and calling on all sides to “immediately cease fighting”.

Libya plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The oil-rich nation has been governed for most of the past decade by rival governments in eastern and western Libya, each backed by an array of fighter groups and foreign governments.