Less than three months after pro-government forces pushed a renegade warlord out of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, infighting within the government now threatens to unravel it and plunge the country into the next chapter of chaos. Powerful militias in the capital are exerting their influence, sensing an opportunity to grab power and wealth. Pro-government forces and political figures are turning on one another in an effort to gain supremacy in western Libya, according to analysts.

“Libya is witnessing a dramatic turn of events that underlines the urgent need to return to a full and inclusive political process,” the U.N. mission in Libya said in a statement over the weekend, calling for “calm, the application of the rule of law and the preservation of the rights of all citizens to peacefully express their views.”

These competing ambitions had been set aside last year in a collective mobilization to defeat commander Khalifa Hifter, based in eastern Libya. Hifter, a dual U.S.-Libyan citizen and former CIA asset, had launched an offensive on Tripoli last summer trying to topple the weak U.N.-installed government. Both sides deployed foreign mercenaries, armed drones and heavy weaponry, escalating a proxy war that has drawn in half a dozen countries. In June, Hifter’s forces were driven away from the capital.

 “As Hifter’s threats rescinded, we have seen the antagonisms between those groups once again rise,” said Tim Eaton, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, a London-based think tank, who focuses on Libya.