On 20 September 2018, 11 people were killed during battles between armed groups in Tripoli, according to the Libya’s Ministry of Health. Of these 11 killed, five were civilians. Libya’s health ministry announced that at least 115 people have been killed and 383 have been injured in Tripoli over the past month. These deaths are a result of ongoing fighting between various groups within Libya.
Tripoli has been at the center of violent clashes since the end of August, when the Seventh Brigade, an armed group from Tarhouna, allied with a militia from Misrata and attacked the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigades and the Nawasi, both of which are based in Tripoli. According to Al Jazeera, the militias from Tarhouna and Misrata are trying to rid Tripoli of “blackmailing state institutions,” while the militias from Tripoli are trying to oust “criminals and outsiders.”
Since the overthrow of President Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, constant fighting has plagued Libya as different factions struggle to gain power. In response to the outburst of violence in August, the UN brokered a ceasefire deal on 4 September 2018 which the recent clashes have violated. António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, stated he is “alarmed by the increasing number of violations of the ceasefire” on 21 September. Additionally, as of 25 September 2018, the UN reported that over 1,700 families were displaced within two days, as they left to find “safer areas.” The International Committee of the Red Cross recently called the situation in Libya “desperate.”
To know more, please read:
https://www.albawaba.com/news/libyas-renewed-armed-clashes-leave-9-dead-tripoli-1190260
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/09/1020202
By Cecilia D'Arville
Editing by Shrabya Ghimire
