Security Council LIVE: Drone strikes and political impasse in Libya
18 August 2026
Peace and Security
As Libya faces a political impasse delaying long-planned elections alongside clashes and drone strikes that left a major oil refinery ablaze, the Security Council heard the latest updates, with an activist warning that the collision of extreme heat, water scarcity and environmental shocks with political division, armed insecurity and struggling institutions clearly makes the situation a peace and security issue. UN News app users can follow our live coverage here.
What you need to know
- The Security Council established the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) in 2011 following six months of armed conflict, with its mandate extended until October 2026 to support an inclusive political process and broader stabilisation efforts
- Libya’s current stalemate between rival administrations traces back to the collapse of Muammar Gadaffi’s regime in 2011, which fractured State institutions, left security structures divided and triggered recurring struggles over legitimacy, authority and the oil-rich economy
- The present split emerged after planned December 2021 elections were postponed indefinitely as the UN-recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli continues to resist efforts to replace it - while the rival authority in the east, backed by the House of Representatives and Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army, pushed for a unified interim executive