On 10 November, the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) military campaign - dubbed ‘Tidings of Security’ - against the Libyan National Army (LNA)-affiliated 4th Brigade in Wershefana, south west of Tripoli, concluded ‘successfully’. The 4th Brigade disintegrated and their leader, Omar Tantoush, fled.The campaign began on 1 November and was led by Usama al-Juwaili, the GNA appointed commander of the western region military zone. Juwaili also had the support of Haithem Tajouri’s Tripoli Revolutionary Brigade, the Zintan Military Council, and the Kani militias from Tarhouna among others. On 7 November forces under Juwaili’s took control of al-Aziziya, the main town in the Wershefana district, from the 4th Brigade and within days installed new security patrols on its streets. The fighting displaced as many as 480 families, although around 100 have since returned to their homes.The stated objective of the campaign was to restore order to Wershefana district. The area is a reputed stronghold for Qaddafi loyalists and has become a hotspot for crime and kidnapping. In reality, the operation served to curtail the LNA’s ‘threat’ of attacking Tripoli and succeeded in significantly reducing Haftar’s leverage in western Libya.The GNA’s move to take over south Tripoli, with help from Tripoli militias, signals a new ‘reconciliation’ of pro 17 February revolutionary militias and military forces in the western region against alliances between the former regime and Haftar. This ‘rebalancing’ of alliances in western Libya has exposed Haftar’s weakness in the region and undermined his ‘threats’ of imminent military action in the west.
GNA Alliance Defeat LNA-Aligned Force in Wershefana