The UN has warned that Libya’s western coast remains highly unstable, with armed groups competing over human trafficking, fuel smuggling and other illicit activities, UN envoy Hanna Serwaa Tetteh told the Security Council on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.
Mrs Tetteh, the UN special representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), said the emergence of drone attacks on critical infrastructure was particularly worrying. Recent strikes targeted the Zawia oil refinery and a power substation, causing the loss of more than 700 megawatts of electricity generation capacity. She called for investigations into the attacks on civilian infrastructure and said those responsible must be held accountable.
Security concerns have also intensified in eastern Libya. Tetteh said Maj. Gen. Faozi Mansuri, a senior Libyan National Army intelligence official, was assassinated in a car bombing in Benghazi on August 10, 2026.
The country’s political process remains stalled, although the UN envoy pointed to the work of the Four Plus Four Committee, which is expected to meet on Thursday, August 20, to finalize the legal and constitutional framework for national elections.
Tetteh also highlighted Libya’s economic and energy crisis, saying the country spends about $1 billion every month on fuel imports, while its electricity grid continues to suffer severe shortages. She cited large-scale diversion of subsidised fuel into the security sector as an “unacceptable abuse of public resources”.
Climate pressures are further worsening the crisis. Climate and security expert Nissa Bek told the Security Council that temperatures had approached 50°C, while some Libyans experienced power cuts lasting up to 15 hours a day. She also cited research showing that most domestic wells in Tripoli fail to meet drinking-water standards because of contamination. Libya remains politically divided between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in Benghazi headed by Osama Hammad.
