ANSD : More than 32,000 displaced in Tripoli fighting: U.N.

THU 21 - 11 - 2024

Date: Apr 24, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

More than 32,000 displaced in Tripoli fighting: U.N.

TUNIS: A self-styled Libyan army slowed down its push on the country’s capital over concerns for civilians caught up in the violence as the U.N. refugee agency said Monday that the fighting for Tripoli had displaced more than 32,000 people. Fighting erupted on April 5, pitting the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by commander Khalifa Haftar and aligned with a rival government in the east, against militias affiliated with Tripoli’s U.N.-supported government.

The clashes threaten to ignite a new civil war in Libya on the scale of the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

The death toll from this month’s fighting climbed to 254, including combatants and civilians, the World Health Organization said Sunday. At least 34 more people died in the previous two days, the WHO said, while 1,228 were wounded.

Since launching his push, which many see as a power grab for Tripoli, Haftar’s forces have captured the districts of Gharyan and Qasr Bani Ghashir, along with several smaller towns. They also seized the capital’s shuttered old airport.

Fighting is now underway for control of Ain Zara and Azizyia, two larger towns near Tripoli, and in the Abu Salim district, about 7 kilometers from Tripoli center.

Libyan airport authorities said Monday that daytime flights would resume at Tripoli’s only functioning airport after it was closed to all but nighttime traffic earlier this month for “security reasons.”

Mitiga International Airport had been closed between 06:00 GMT and 15:00 GMT daily after an April 8 airstrike claimed by the Libyan National Army. The airport was also closed for several hours Saturday night, as fighting intensified after a counterattack by forces loyal to the government and amid reports of new airstrikes.

Abdel-Hadi Lahouij, the top diplomat for the east-based government, told the Associated Press in Tunis Sunday that Haftar’s push was slowed down because of concerns for civilians in the greater Tripoli area, estimated to number about 3 million.

If the civilians had not been taken into account, the battle would not have lasted even a week, he said.

“The army is today 20 kilometers from Tripoli. It controls the [old] airport and the bridge that connects the airport to the city center,” Lahouij said.

He also lauded President Donald Trump’s call to Haftar last week expressing U.S. support for the Libyan commander’s perceived stance against terrorism and Haftar’s role in “securing Libya’s oil resources.” A White House statement Friday also said “the two discussed a shared vision for Libya’s transition to a stable, democratic political system.”

Trump’s phone call was a step “in the right direction,” Lahouij said.

Since Gadhafi’s ouster, Libya has slid into chaos, governed by rival authorities in the east and in Tripoli, each backed by various militias and armed groups fighting over resources and territory. Haftar has vowed to unify the country. He has led previous campaigns against Islamist militants and other rivals in eastern Libya, and has received support from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Russia and France.

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