It is important to note that Libya currently has two rival governments: one in the east, based in Tobruk and led by Khalifa Haftar under the banner of the Libyan National Army (LNA), supported by Egypt and the UAE; and another in the west, based in Tripoli and headed by Prime Minister Abdel Hamid al‑Dbeibah under the Government of National Unity (GNU), backed by Turkey.

Libya’s Tripoli-based military leadership suffered a devastating blow after the death of the Government of National Unity’s (GNU) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Mohammed Ali Ahmed al‑Haddad in a plane crash near Ankara, Turkey on December 23.