Fastest News Updates around the World

Street battles in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, intensify

31

- Advertisement -

Gunshots were heard in the Libyan capital amid clashes between two armed groups allied with the United Nations-backed unity government.

A number of Tripoli residents were slightly injured in the clashes, which began on Sunday night and spread to several neighborhoods.

Fighters from rival militias – the apostasy force and the 444th Brigade, which are loyal to the Tripoli-based government of interim Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeiba – clashed after a member of the 444th Brigade was arrested.

Libyan television and online media showed videos of the fighting that social media users posted online.

The Tripoli Rescue Service said on its Facebook page that an elderly man was “wounded by shrapnel in the arm while fleeing by car from his home in Ain Zara”, denouncing the damage to ambulances during the gun battles.

On Sunday, armored vehicles and fighters were seen deployed in Jabra Street, a busy commercial area in the east of the capital, and the Ras Hassan residential neighborhood in the center of the capital.

After the fighting subsided, gunfire from heavy and light weapons, along with ambulance sirens, was heard in the eastern suburbs of Ain Zara and Furanj until 3 a.m. (01:00 GMT) on Monday, according to Agence France-Presse. Reporter.

On Monday, the University of Tripoli said it had been forced to “close its doors” and suspend exams as a security measure.

The fighting reportedly stopped after another armed group responsible for security, the Stabilization Support Agency, intervened.

Calls for calm

Libya is divided between the UN-backed Dabaiba government in the west and another in the east supported by putschist General Khalifa Haftar.

The oil-rich country was plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Last August, 32 people were killed and 159 wounded in Tripoli when groups supporting the Haftar-backed government fought Dbeiba’s forces.

The latest fighting in Tripoli comes after the Dbeiba government carried out drone strikes since Thursday near the western city of Zawiya, allegedly on targets linked to fuel, drug and human smuggling.

On Sunday, drone strikes killed at least two people and hospitalized the nephew of MP Ali Bouzariba, of the rival eastern parliament, whose home was reportedly bombed in raids three days earlier.

The parliament based in the east of the country on Monday condemned the strikes on Zawiya, saying it was an operation “to settle political scores instead of fighting traffickers as claimed” by Dbeibeh’s government.

In response, the US Embassy in Tripoli said it was watching the situation “with concern amid reports of weapons being used in civilian areas and the potential for further violence”.

“Libyan leaders must do all they can to de-escalate and take all necessary precautions to protect civilian lives,” he wrote on Twitter.

Its embassy said on Twitter that Britain had called the use of weapons that put civilian lives at risk “unacceptable” and called on all those involved to de-escalate.

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More