Zawiya, located 48 km west of Tripoli, on the Mediterranean coast, controls the capital’s western gateway and hosts the second-largest oil refinery.
A fragile calm has settled over the strategic Libyan coastal city of Zawiya after days of armed clashes between rival militias near the country’s second-largest oil refinery. Life is gradually returning to streets that echoed with gunfire just days ago, schools are cautiously reopening, and workers are returning to damaged infrastructure.
But experts warn the peace may be temporary. The possibility of renewed clashes remains, raising anxiety among residents already dealing with damaged schools, shuttered shops, and an unreliable power supply.
The electricity disruptions add another layer of hardship to a population caught between competing militias in a city that has become emblematic of Libya’s broader struggle to establish stable governance over its vital energy infrastructure.
Political analyst and journalist Ayoub al-Awjali says the cycle of clashes has become predictable.
“The city of Zawiya always witnesses recurring clashes, and this is due to the city’s specificity and the influential tribal character, in addition to the control of more than one armed group over the city, which tries from time to time to expand the scope of its influence,” al-Awjali told The New Arab.
Zawiya, located 48 km west of the capital, Tripoli, on the Mediterranean coast, controls the western gateway to the capital and hosts Libya’s second-largest oil refinery, which produces over 120,000 barrels per day. The facility is vital to Libya’s domestic fuel supply, providing petroleum products to local markets and power stations across the western region.
Clashes in Zawiya have recurred since the February 2011 revolution against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime for several interconnected reasons.
“Militias seeking to expand territorial control, competition over illegal immigration networks that charge migrants up to $3,500 per person to reach Europe by sea, battles to dominate detention centres, and most critically, attempts to control fuel smuggling operations linked to the refinery,” al-Awjali remarked.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported rescuing more than 855 migrants from the sea and returning them to Libya in a single week this year, out of a total of 18,260 migrants in 2025. Zawiya and Tobruk, located on Libya’s eastern Mediterranean coast, topped the list with four smuggling operations in under seven days.
The latest round of violence, which erupted on 24 September, follows a familiar pattern in Zawiya.
Armed clashes broke out in the al-Harsha area between the “Security Threats Apparatus”, a militia loyal to the Government of National Unity, and armed groups known as “Al-Kabouat” one of the most dangerous militias controlling routes to the Zawiya oil refinery, alongside the “Al Far” militia led by Mohamed Bahron, who is wanted by the Attorney General on terrorism charges and who was involved in several deadly armed clashes with other militias in the west of the country.
A source from the Zawiya Municipal Council, who requested anonymity, confirmed the latest clashes erupted after the Security Threats Apparatus arrested members of the al-Kabouat militia.
“The area witnessed an exchange of fire with light and medium weapons randomly, which caused panic and fear among citizens in the area, leading to several wounds and two killed,” he said.
Libya has been divided between rival administrations since 2014, with the UN-recognised Government of National Unity based in Tripoli controlling the west, while a parliament-backed government operates in the east. The country’s oil wealth, which accounts for virtually all state revenue, has become a contested territory for numerous militias that emerged from the 2011 uprising.
Strategic infrastructure
What transforms these recurring clashes from local power struggles into matters of national economic consequence is Zawiya’s geographic position and its refinery.
“Any military movements by armed groups in the western region that may target Tripoli or its armed formations must pass through Zawiya. It is the western key to the capital Tripoli,” said political analyst Ahmed Al-Tithami.
He describes the armed groups controlling the city as “popularly balanced forces in terms of numbers, tribal support, and influence”, a balance that prevents any single faction from establishing dominance but ensures periodic violence as groups test each other’s strength.
The Zawiya refinery itself has become both a strategic asset and a vulnerability, al-Tithamy explained. The facility warned in an official statement during the recent clashes about “the danger of dragging armed conflict toward vital sites that represent a pillar of the national economy”, demanding an immediate ceasefire and urging security agencies to intervene urgently to keep conflicts away from oil facilities.
Ali Al-Farsi, an economic and energy market analyst and academic researcher, emphasises the stakes.
“Zawiya refinery is one of the largest refineries on which the Libyan economy depends. It provides car oil products and some fuels to the local market and power stations. The lack of responsibility by armed formations controlling the refinery’s surroundings has caused serious damage to the refinery for years, hindering development and growth plans. Storage warehouses are damaged in every clash in the city, which hinders the refinery’s ability to work,” al-Farsi added.
The Zawiya refinery is essential to Libya’s domestic fuel supply. It represents a crucial component of the country’s oil infrastructure, which has been repeatedly shut down or damaged during periods of power struggle. Libya currently produces approximately 1.3 million barrels per day, well below the National Oil Corporation’s goal of reaching 2 million barrels per day.
Al-Farsi warns that achieving production targets remains “difficult” given the security instability in the country’s western cities. While the corporation attempts technical measures to prevent escalating damage, it lacks the authority to provide security for oil facilities. This responsibility falls to Libyan authorities in the west, which remain contested and fragmented.
Collateral damage
The recent clashes left visible scars across Zawiya. The General Electricity Company announced that its rapid maintenance teams, working alongside installation units from the General Administration of Lighting, continue intensive efforts to repair electrical networks that sustained significant damage during the fighting.
The violence caused direct damage to the national electricity grid infrastructure, forcing six production units at the South Tripoli Power Plant offline and disconnecting numerous power transmission circuits. A week after the guns fell silent, teams are still working to restore power to the centre of the al-Harsha area, while several lines remain out of service due to severed cables on major transmission towers.
The company confirmed it continues efforts “under difficult circumstances” and remains “committed to restoring service to all affected areas as soon as possible,” urging citizens to “cooperate and be patient until maintenance operations are fully completed.”
For residents like Abdulsalam al-Warfali, a 45-year-old employee at a private money transfer office, the disruption was immediate and frightening. On the morning the clashes began, he attempted to take his three children to their elementary school near the western neighbourhoods where fighting erupted.
“We left Wednesday morning as on any ordinary day to drop off my children and then go to work, but I was surprised by the closure of the main road and other side roads with dirt barriers, and a large armed presence of vehicles and armoured cars along the road with armed elements carrying Kalashnikov rifles almost everywhere,” he recalled.
“They asked me to return home and not to go out. I returned to my home, which is about 25 km from the clash area, quickly and fearfully. I closed all the windows and doors and sat with my family in an interior room to avoid any injuries from random weapons or shells,” al-Warfali added.
His children’s school, Sheikh al-Tahir al-Zawi School in West Zawiya, sustained shattered windows and damage from ammunition in its courtyards. The Zawiya Centre Education Monitoring Office suspended classes at two schools and granted the principals full discretionary authority to keep the schools closed if the danger persists.
The current calm offers little reassurance to residents who have witnessed this cycle repeat itself since 2011. For now, schools cautiously reopen, shops raise their shutters, and electricians splice together severed power lines. But in Zawiya, as residents have learned, peace is always provisional, and the next round of clashes may be just one arrest, one territorial dispute, or one smuggling operation away.
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