As clashes rage in southern Tripoli between eastern military commander Khalifa Hifter’s forces and the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) made up of various militias, the Amazigh in Zuwara fear their border area and city could be attacked at any moment.

“We just tried to escape. I thought it was the last day of my life,” civil society activist Fadi Dhan from Zuwara told Al-Monitor by phone, describing Hifter’s forces attacking the inactive military base of Abd Al-Samad on April 13, when eight rockets launched by a war plane at 6:45 a.m. injured two people. It was the first attack in the western border area of Zuwara since Hifter's Libyan National Army (LNA) began an offensive on the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 4, causing at least 254 deaths, over 1,228 injuries and displacing nearly 32,000 people.

Zuwara's mostly Amazigh residents feel their area could be attacked again at any moment. “Me and other five friends, all civilians, were at the military base of [Abd Al-Samad] volunteering. We usually do day and night shifts there to warn the military operations room if someone is coming to attack us,” Dhan continued. As a civil society activist, Dhan also takes pictures and videos for the Zuwara Media Center, which has been active since the 2011 revolution against deposed leader Moammar Gadhafi to independently document local events and support peace and democracy.

Zuwara is a strategic area for three reasons. It's the site of the Mellitah oil and gas plant, jointly operated by the Italian ENI and state oil firm NOC, that supplies Italy with gas through the Greenstream pipeline. It's a border area between Tunisia and Libya, important for travelers, trade and smuggling activities. Then there are the city's port and airport, which the residents fear that Hifter’s army could take even before finishing with Tripoli.