Tim Eaton
Zawiya’s security apparatus: family ties, local competition and profit
The forces active in Zawiya consist of two main – and rivalrous – axes of power, based principally on familial ties and neighbourhoods, which have also effectively controlled the means through which the Zawiyan security sector has obtained affiliation with the Libyan state.
The first is the central Zawiya axis of Mahmoud Bin Rajab and Mohamed Bahrun, which brings together factions from the Awlad Saqr tribe and family-based groupings located in the centre of the city.
The second axis is built on the Abu Hamyra tribe, under the leadership of armed groups headed by the Abu Zariba and Khushlaf families, that control southern Zawiya and the city’s crucial oil refinery. These axes continue to vie with one another for dominance in the city. Their disputes have at times spilled over into violence, yet they have sought to avoid large-scale confrontation in order to preserve a degree of social stability. In December 2023, at the time of writing, these conflicts remain ongoing following a GNU-led bombing campaign in May–June 2023, and are continuing to reshape Zawiya’s security apparatus.
The situation is set to remain volatile, and further reconfigurations should be expected. However, it should be noted that any ‘victory’ for one axis over the other is not likely to be absolute, as the rival groups’ social constituencies remain resident in their respective areas of the city.
The forces active in Zawiya consist of two main – and rivalrous – axes of power, based principally on familial ties and neighbourhoods, which have also effectively controlled the means through which the Zawiyan security sector has obtained affiliation with the Libyan state.
Unlike in Misrata, the development of armed groups in Zawiya has been forged in competition over economic interests. It is the actors themselves who have dictated the terms on which they have become affiliated with the state, as politicians have sought to reward Zawiya’s armed groups for their loyalty with resources and legitimacy by integrating them into the state structure. However, efforts to professionalize local forces or to break their existing chains of command as part of this integration have foundered.
The Zawiyan security forces are dominated by key figures who command the major forces in the city, which remain permanently mobilized. Compared with the situation in Misrata and Zintan, local community members and leaders in Zawiya are less able to check the behaviour of the city’s armed groups.
The central Zawiya axis
The central Zawiya axis includes several figures who are viewed as having close connections to Islamist-leaning factions associated with the former Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) commander Shaaban Hadiya.
Hadiya led the LROR, formed in 2013 from Islamist armed groups from across the country. All major Zawiyan revolutionary brigades joined the LROR, with their commanders having close relationships with Hadiya. Among these were Mahmoud Bin Rajab’s Faruq Brigade, which also had Mohamed Bahrun as one of its members, and Othman al-Lahab’s Silaa Brigade. The Nasr Brigade, which would later form a key part of the rival Abu Hamyra network, also joined with the LROR.
Changes emerged in the balance of power between the armed groups in Zawiya as a result of political changes at the national level and of power struggles at the local level. A key part of the Libya Dawn coalition, the LROR enjoyed significant influence while the Government of National Salvation operated in Tripoli. The formation of the GNA at Skheirat in December 2015 led to a decline in the influence of the Zawiyan armed groups.
Three developments in 2017 significantly changed the Zawiyan security sector.
The first was the ouster of the LIFG’s leadership from Tripoli, which illustrated its reduced influence. Hadiya subsequently relocated to Istanbul.
The Second, fighting among rival armed groups in the centre of Zawiya escalated. In June 2017, Ibrahim Hneesh, the 20-year-old leader of a group of local militants, was killed during a gunfight with the militia of the Khadrawi family. His death triggered further fighting among competing armed groups.
The third development, also in June of that year, was the arrest in Saudi Arabia of Mahmoud Bin Rajab, who was later transferred back to Libya and placed under LAAF detention.
The violence in the city, along with Bin Rajab’s absence, created the space for Mohamed Bahrun (also known as ‘Al-Far’, or ‘the Mouse’) to emerge as a new leader. As a result, Bahrun’s First Security Division attracted members of rival factions and expanded significantly. Bahrun and the Awlad Saqr armed groups, such as the Silaa Brigade, continued to compete with the armed groups of the Abu Hamyra tribe for primacy in the city, and for a leading role in lucrative markets for goods.
In 2019, the return of Bin Rajab and the events surrounding the LAAF’s offensive on Tripoli transformed the situation once again. Following his release by the LAAF, Bin Rajab returned to Zawiya after reportedly indicating to Khalifa Haftar’s forces that he would likely support the LAAF in its attempts to capture Tripoli. However, Bin Rajab instead remobilized Zawiyan armed groups that had been active in the 2014 conflict from the Awlad Saqr, along with factions in the central Zawiya area that had been competing against the Abu Hamyra armed groups.
The Zawiya Security Directorate-affiliated First Security Division, led by Bahrun, and Force III Support Force, led by Mohamed Ali Khalifa Sulaiman, joined Bin Rajab’s forces.
The forces aligned with Bin Rajab were formalized within the Ministry of Defence as a result of their support for the GNA against the LAAF’s offensive. The GNA’s then defence minister, Salah al-Din Namroush, a high-ranking Zawiyan military officer, emerged as a key figure in this period. Namroush is the formal ‘face’ of Bin Rajab’s faction, and is widely known to have aligned himself with Bin Rajab’s directives.
While Namroush fronted engagement with Turkey, whose forces’ entry into Libya had swung the tide of the war, Bin Rajab is reported by some with a close knowledge of the security sector to have been an important interlocutor with Turkish forces. Namroush left office with the GNA in March 2021.
Bin Rajab’s forces were formalized as the 52nd Infantry Brigade in July 2020 via a resolution issued by Namroush in his capacity as defence minister. The al-Naqliya Martyrs’ Brigade, formed of elements from central and northern Zawiya that fought in the campaign against the LAAF, was also formalized under the Western Military Zone.
Following its involvement in the campaign against Khalifa Haftar’s forces in Tripoli, the forces under the control of Mohamed Bahrun were formalized as a Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU) under the aegis of the Zawiya Security Directorate, as part of the Ministry of Interior.
In 2020, the head of the Zawiya Security Directorate, Ali al-Lafi, recognized the status of the Bahrun’s forces, which had beeFollowing its involvement in the campaign against Khalifa Haftar’s forces in Tripoli, the forces under the control of Mohamed Bahrun were formalized as a Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU) under the aegis of the Zawiya Security Directorate, as part of the Ministry of Interior.
In 2020, the head of the Zawiya Security Directorate, Ali al-Lafi, recognized the status of the Bahrun’s forces, which had been operating as an informal ‘support’ force for some time.
However, these institutional relationships did not define the scope and nature of Bahrun’s actions. Bahrun would subsequently use his forces to support the head of the Libyan Intelligence Service (LIS), Hussein Ayeb, in the latter’s struggle for control of the LIS amid challenges from Tripoli-based armed groups. This support for Ayeb led to Bahrun’s appointment to the new position of head of the Office for Counterterrorism and Combating Destructive Acts.
Since the period of data collection for this paper, the already tense situation in Zawiya has escalated significantly. In April 2023, clashes broke out between the forces of Bahrun and Hassan Abu Zariba after the reported killing of a member of each force. Subsequently, in May and June, a series of GNU drone strikes targeted facilities in Zawiya (as well as Zuwara and Warshefana) that included buildings linked to the Abu Hamyra axis.
In the aftermath of this campaign, the GNU has sought to place the West Coast Military Zone – dominated by the central Zawiya axis commanders – in charge of previously Abu Hamyra-controlled areas, such as the critical Zawiya refinery. Illustrating the importance of the central Zawiya axis to the GNU, Namroush was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Libyan armed forces in November 2023.
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Tim Eaton – Senior Research Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme.
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