Libya protests spread to strategic energy sites in challenge to Dbeibah

TRIPOLI – Protesters in western Libya escalated their campaign against Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah’s Government of National Unity on Monday by entering the Mellitah Oil and Gas complex, one of the country’s most important energy facilities, while expanding a civil disobedience campaign that has spread across Tripoli and other western cities.

The latest escalation comes after days of demonstrations over prolonged electricity cuts, deteriorating public services and worsening living conditions, with protesters increasingly directing their anger at the government and calling for its resignation.

Sources among the protesters said the move at the Mellitah complex was intended to halt natural gas exports to Italy as part of an effort to increase economic pressure on the government and force it to step down.

The same sources said protesters were also considering disrupting fuel and gas supplies to power stations, warning that such a move could trigger a widespread collapse of Libya’s electricity grid and lead to extensive blackouts across large parts of the country.

There was no immediate confirmation that gas exports or fuel supplies had been interrupted.

In a parallel escalation, sources said that protesters planned to head on Monday evening to the headquarters of the Central Bank of Libya and the offices of Mellitah Oil and Gas in Tripoli, intending to block access using earth barriers as part of efforts to broaden the civil disobedience campaign.

A source in the Souq al-Jum’aa Movement said organisers intended to extend the campaign over the coming hours to include additional oil companies after an initial phase that focused on government ministries, public institutions and state-owned companies in the capital.

The source said further details would be announced as the campaign unfolded. There was no immediate official response to the threats.

The unrest has spread rapidly across western Libya since demonstrations began in Tripoli, with protesters blocking roads, closing ministries, public institutions and banking facilities, and demanding the departure of Dbeibah’s administration as well as broader political change.

Security tensions also increased in Misrata, where a military force opposed to Dbeibah staged a show of force, with convoys of military vehicles driving through the city amid a heavy deployment of personnel.

The display came as protests and civil disobedience gathered momentum in Tripoli and other western cities, highlighting growing political and security tensions in the region.

Meanwhile, protesters from the Families and Youth of Tajoura Movement closed the headquarters of the city’s Housing and Utilities Authority using earth barriers, continuing efforts to paralyse state institutions.

The demonstrations have evolved from protests over chronic electricity shortages into a broader challenge to Libya’s political leadership, with organisers calling for the removal of governments in both eastern and western Libya and demanding accountability over corruption, deteriorating living standards and years of institutional deadlock.

The government has not commented publicly on the latest escalation.

Whether the campaign will significantly affect Libya’s vital oil, gas and electricity sectors remains uncertain, as it has not been confirmed that protesters have succeeded in disrupting exports or energy supplies. However, the targeting of strategic energy infrastructure marks a significant escalation in the anti-government movement and raises the stakes in Libya’s latest political crisis.