| Summary/Abstract |
On April 4, 2019, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar launched a military strike against Tripoli, the Libyan capital and the headquarters of the internationally recognized, UN‐sponsored Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Fayez al‐Serraj.1 The attack was a clear sign of the field marshal's intention to challenge the GNA through military means, take control of the entire country and impose himself as the undisputed leader of post‐2011 Libya. In 2014, with the launch of Operation Karamah (Dignity), Haftar and his self‐styled Libyan National Army (LNA) took control over Cyrenaica, Libya's eastern region, and from there expanded south. In summer 2018, most of Fezzan, the southern Libyan province, was brought under his control.2 Tripolitania, Libya's western region, was the last piece of the puzzle — the most populous and difficult to subjugate. Six months after the launch of the military offensive, what was envisioned as a quick victory turned into a yet‐unresolved, low‐intensity conflict between Libyan parties as well as regional and international actors.
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