Gun battles between two leading armed groups in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, have killed 27 people and wounded 106, the Libyan Emergency Medicine and Support Centre said yesterday.
The center, which provides emergency services in the west of Tripoli, published the “provisional” toll on Facebook.
The clashes between the 444 Brigade and al-Radaa, also known as Special Deterrence Force — two of many militias that have vied for power since the overthrow of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 — erupted on Monday night and raged through Tuesday.
Photo: Reuters
A total of 234 families were evacuated from frontline areas in the capital’s southern suburbs, along with dozens of doctors and paramedics who had got trapped by the fighting while caring for the wounded, the center said.
Three field hospitals and a fleet of about 60 ambulances had been deployed to the area, it said.
The clashes were triggered by the detention of the head of the 444 Brigade, Colonel Mahmud Hamza, by the rival al-Radaa Force on Monday, a Ministry of the Interior official said.
Late on Tuesday, the social council in the southeastern suburb of Soug el-Joumaa, a stronghold of al-Radaa, announced that an agreement had been reached with Abdelhamid Dbeibah, prime minister of the UN-recognized government based in the capital, for Hamza to be handed over to a “neutral party”.
In a televised announcement, the council said a ceasefire would follow the transfer of the force’s commander and the fighting abated late on Tuesday.
Libya is split between Dbeibah’s UN-backed government in the west and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar. Both the 444 Brigade and al-Radaa are aligned with Dbeibah’s government.
Overnight, Dbeibah visited the southeastern suburb of Ain Zara, which saw some of the heaviest fighting on Tuesday, accompanied by the Minister Interior Imed Trabelsi.
Dbeibah gave instructions for a survey of the damage to be carried out so that residents could be compensated, his government’s press office said on Facebook.
Meanwhile, the Libyan capital’s only civilian airport, Mitiga International Airport, remained closed to commercial flights yesterday, officials said. Flights were being diverted to Misrata about 180km to the east.
A period of relative stability earlier had led the UN to express hope for delayed elections to take place this year, and the latest fighting triggered international calls for calm.
The UN Support Mission in Libya said it was “following with concern” the security deterioration in the Libyan capital and its impact on civilians.
“All parties must preserve the security gains achieved in recent years and address differences through dialogue,” the mission said.
The embassies of the UK, France, the EU and the US echoed the UN call for de-escalation.
Elections in Libya had been due in December 2021 but disputes, including who could stand in the polls, resulted in their suspension indefinitely.
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