Who was Libya’s militant leader Abdel Ghani Al Kikli?

The country's most influential militia commander was killed in violent clashes this week

Libyan security forces stand guard at a checkpoint following overnight clashes in Tripoli. EPA

One of Libya’s most influential militia leaders, Abdel Ghani Al Kikli, known as Gheniwa, was killed on Monday night, triggering violent clashes across the capital Tripoli.

Al Kikli was the commander of the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), one of the city's most powerful militant groups, based in western Libya, in the densely populated Abu Salim neighbourhood. The group has been accused of committing atrocities and faces allegations of crimes against humanity during the country’s long-running conflict.

He was killed at the headquarters of the 444th Combat Brigade of the Libyan army, a militia commanded by Mahmoud Hamza, a warlord close to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

Al Kikli was a baker in 2011, when the Arab Spring sparked the uprising against former president Muammar Qaddafi. He rallied neighbours in his Abu Salim district to take over a local army barracks.

Continuing clashes across the capital has left at least six people dead, according to Libya's Emergency Medicine and Support Centre.

Libya expert Jalel Harchaoui told AFP that Al Kikli was likely ambushed at the base, citing a relative of the SSA leader.

Mr Harchaoui described Al Kikli as one of Tripoli's “most successful armed group leaders”, with an “ability to outmanoeuvre Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah”.

A Libyan soldier rests near a checkpoint in Tripoli.

Mr Harchaoui said this would mean a “territorial reshuffle” in the capital, with the 444 Brigade seizing areas formerly controlled by the SSA.

Al Kikli “was de facto king of Tripoli,” Tarek Megerisi of the European Council on Foreign Relations told Reuters. “His henchmen controlled the internal security agency … cash transfers from the central bank … numerous public companies and ministries”.

It has been reported that Al Kikli was involved in disputes with rival armed groups, including those linked to the city of Misurata.

The SSA militia is under the Presidential Council that came to power in 2021 with the government of national unity (GNU) of Mr Dbeibah through a UN-backed process.

Human Rights abuses

Amnesty International said on Tuesday that it has documented crimes including enforced disappearances and deaths in custody by SSA militia members under Al Kikli's command, as well as interceptions of refugees and migrants at sea that have been marred by reports of violence, leading to loss of life.

Gunmen loyal to Al Kikli ran prisons and occupied government ministries and financial institutions.

The human rights agency also called for the government to hold militia leaders across the country to account following the surrender of many SSA members, said the report.

“For years, the SSA terrorised people in Tripoli through enforced disappearances, torture, and other crimes under international law,” Mahmoud Shalaby, Egypt and Libya Researcher at Amnesty International, said in the report.

“SSA members subjected hundreds of migrants and refugees to torture, forced labour and rape after intercepting them at sea and returning them to detention centres under SSA’s command,” he said.

In addition, a United Nations panel of experts reported in December that Al Kikli was a central figure in Libya’s balance of power, playing a key role in militia financing through corrupt practices.