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Libya: covert guerrilla war in Tripoli

A covert guerrilla war, waged by underground rebel cells and fought mainly at night, is increasingly challenging the Gaddafi regime's hold over Tripoli.

Photo: AP

By Adrian Blomfield, Tripoli

9:00PM BST 06 Jul 2011

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Residents of the Libyan capital have spoken of an upsurge in drive-by shootings, attacks on security checkpoints and frequent gun-battles once darkness has fallen over the city.

Even as it fights opposition forces on three fronts to the east and south of the capital, the Libyan government has insisted that it has pacified Tripoli, presenting it as a bastion of unswerving loyalty to Col Muammar Gaddafi.

By day, there is indeed a veneer of normality and pro-regime loyalty in the capital, a front government minders are keen to emphasise when guiding western reporters on heavily-chaperoned tours of the city.

By night, however, mysterious bursts of gunfire can be heard on a far more frequent basis than the sound of falling Nato bombs.

Minders attribute such sounds to loyal citizens shooting in the air in celebration, a partially plausible claim after Col Gaddafi doled out weapons to loyal residents and encouraged them to root out dissidents.

But sometimes there are clearly audible exchanges of fire, including one in the early hours of Tuesday morning that lasted nearly an hour, and these are harder to explain.

Such violence is thought predominantly to occur in poorer suburbs like Souq al-Juma and Feshloom, as well as in the Greater Tripoli district of Tajoura, places that witnessed anti-Gaddafi demonstrations in February, when the uprising was in its infancy.

The regime feels confident enough to take reporters to these areas, and residents, mindful of government chaperones hovering nearby, dutifully declare that nothing is amiss, proclaim their love for Col Gaddafi and express their hope that he reigns "forever".

But when the Daily Telegraph reached Souq al-Juma independently after giving minders the slip, it discovered a rather different story.

Unlike in richer suburbs, most shops here are not adorned with portraits of Gaddafi, and small acts of defiance, from graffiti to painting pets in revolutionary colours, have been reported on a regular basis.

Yet many in the suburb seemed reluctant to talk openly, resorting to circumlocution to express their opposition to the colonel.

Explaining the need for euphemism, one said: "It is too dangerous. People are afraid to talk because there are secret police and informers everywhere."

Only those supportive of Col Gaddafi spoke freely, although even they conceded that "30 per cent" opposed the regime. Others put the numbers at "about half and half".

Yet on one issue there seemed to be consensus: at night, the shabby streets of Souq al-Juma are a very dangerous place to be.

Beside a DVD stall blaring music onto the street, a young Gaddafi supporter told of nightly attacks on members of the security forces, who arrive in force after dusk to seal off Souq al-Juma.

"They drive past in cars and shoot out of the windows at the police," he said.

Some of the most regular violence takes place at an intersection near a bridge linking the suburb to the rest of Tripoli. It was here, residents said, than 10 people were killed when protests early on in the uprising were suppressed.

A checkpoint at the intersection has frequently come under attack by rebel gunmen in recent weeks, according to residents whose homes overlook the area.

"It happens nearly every night," one said. "One night, there were four bodies. They were quickly taken away and the wounded disappeared."

It is unclear how extensive the rebellion in Tripoli's suburbs is. Opposition officials in rebel-held areas speak of more than a dozen cells, operating independently of each other, that are active.

Rebels in the Nafusa Mountains, southwest of Tripoli, launched a fresh advance yesterday after allegedly being rearmed by Nato weapons drops. But, like their colleagues to the east, they have largely been unable to hold territory outside natural opposition strongholds.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, opposition leaders hope that, by launching an attritional underground war in Tripoli, they can pin down regime forces who could be deployed elsewhere, while demonstrating how tenuous Col Gaddafi's hold over the capital really is.

In this, they are enjoying a measure of success. Residents of Souk al-Juma indicate that, at night at least, no one really controls their suburb.

"After sunset, everyone stays at home because it is so dangerous," an advertising salesman said. "Even wedding parties that normally finish at about 2am now end no later than 8pm."

The violence does not seem to be turning people against the rebels. Instead the growing financial depredations in the capital appears to be bolstering resentment of the regime.

Food prices have soared, queues last for days and banks have restricted withdrawals to just £750 a month, undermining a tacit agreement between Col Gaddafi and many of his people under which they swapped financial security for democratic freedoms.

As the situation worsens, a growing number of people are fleeing the capital.

Last week, hundreds of Tripoli residents sought sanctuary behind rebel lines in the Nafusa mountains on a single day alone, according to western camera crews.

Those who have stayed say they fear the conflict in Tripoli is steadily worsening and will eventually explode into full-scale bloodletting.