Football and regional armed forces clashes in Libya

Al-Ittihad supporters set fire to part of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s Cabinet Office in Tripoli after a suspended football match against Misrata-based Al-Suwaihli escalated into violent clashes on May 14th, as reported by Libya Herald and agencies on May 15th.

During a Libyan Premier League championship playoff match held in Tarhuna, supposedly a neutral location south of Tripoli, the referee suspended the game three minutes before the end of its regular time after some arbitral decisions were seemed to be favouring Al-Suwaihli according to Al-Ittihad fans.

Some supporters stormed the pitch after the suspension causing severe damages and setting a fire to an outside broadcasting vehicle, the situation then quickly escalated when forces from the 444 Brigade, which were present at the match and led by a Misratan commander, responded by firing live ammunition.

The presence of the 444 Brigade and their response to the situation gave the already delicate confrontation a wider political and regional meaning inside western Libya’s sensitive security environment, creating new means of violence and sensation of constant danger to civilians.

Once the unrest was know in Tripoli as news of the match suspension and reported live fire spread among Al-Ittihad supporters, demonstrators gathered around Dbeibah’s Cabinet Office where security forces again used live ammunition before parts of the building were set on fire.

How Libya’s security response to a civilian sporting dispute immediately involved armed formations and live fire reflects a wider problem in which policing, public order and political protection are still shaped by brigades with strong local and regional identities.

Libya’s armed security problem can surface far from front lines or formal political disputes, even a simple football match became a test of crowd control, regional tension and state authority, showing how quickly public anger can collide with armed force in the absence of trusted civilian security institutions.

Libya Herald plus agencies, maghrebi.org