Story
August 11, 2026
In Benghazi, the Haftar Clan Is Consolidating Its Power Through Major Construction Projects
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How the Haftar clan polishes its image to build legitimacy
The de facto capital of eastern Libya, under the control of Marshal Haftar and his sons since 2018, has become a showcase of their stranglehold on the eastern part of the country. Army bulldozers are working to transform the city devastated by years of war.
Getting around Benghazi today requires patience and the ability to navigate potholes. So many roads are under construction that those still in use struggle to keep up with the sheer volume of vehicles crisscrossing the coastal city, the capital of Cyrenaica. So when a driver gets stuck in a traffic jam, at the foot of giant portraits of Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his sons, it's impossible to know which of the hundreds of construction sites tearing through the city is causing the slowdown.
Rabie Alhussein, meanwhile, laced up his rollerblades to glide along the crowded seafront promenade on this balmy Friday evening in the summer of 2026. “During the war, the population suffocated, deprived of the seaside. We waited so long before we could breathe this fresh air again,” rejoiced the 50-year-old, gray-haired founder of a small children’s skating club. “But thanks to the sacrifice of our martyrs, ISIS was defeated, and we can play here again,” boasted the mustachioed man, under the watchful eyes of his young recruits.
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Glitzy city center
It took three years for the militias assembled by Khalifa Haftar in his Libyan National Army (LNA) to finally defeat the Islamic State group, which had seized control of most of the city center, at the end of 2018. The fierce fighting left behind a devastated city. It wasn't until 2023 that extensive reconstruction efforts began throughout Cyrenaica following the devastating floods that nearly razed the city of Derna, 300 kilometers to the east. It took more than 10,000 people disappearing after the collapse of two aging dams for the Haftar clan to finally decide, with the help of bulldozers, to develop the eastern part of the country, which it has ruled unchallenged since 2020.
Since then, the gold logo of the Development and Reconstruction Fund has become ubiquitous. Initially endowed with 10 billion dinars (1.3 billion euros), it is the LNA's primary civilian vehicle for carrying out its infrastructure projects. The "Fund," headed by Belgacem Haftar, son of the Field Marshal, is constructing a multitude of projects—ranging from football stadiums to universities and airports—by contracting with foreign companies, often Egyptian, Turkish, or Emirati. "A modern city awaits us. The patience of Benghazi's residents is finally being rewarded," rejoices Rabie Alhussein, pointing to the silhouette of the Benghazi Towers construction site on the horizon. The three buildings, along with Africa's tallest skyscraper, whose foundations have been laid nearby, are expected to eventually form the heart of a gleaming new city center.
Bulldozers in action day and night
Along the Corniche, the historic center and its old Ottoman and Italian quarters remain scarred. Between collapsed buildings and those disfigured by bullet holes, life seems to have almost vanished in what was the last stronghold of the jihadists in 2018. In the middle of Al-Sharif Street, Kamal Al Beida passes the time on the phone, sitting in an armchair in front of his family's building. "Most of the residents who left during the fighting never came back," the smiling old man remarks between calls. He continues to enjoy the place every day before "they destroy it to rebuild everything, whether we like it or not."
"A modern city awaits us. The patience of Benghazi's residents is finally being rewarded."
Rabie Alhussein
But for independent architect Eman Elmazek, the speed at which the work is being carried out raises questions: "Between the sewage systems, electricity, roads, pollution control … The challenges are immense in this city which has not had a development plan since the 1980s." The "Vision 2030" of the Marshal and his sons, unveiled last February, could prove difficult to achieve despite the bulldozers working day and night to give their "capital" this carefully staged atmosphere of renewal.
