CAIRO: Clashes between two heavily armed militia groups in the Libyan capital terrorized residents and killed around 12 people, officials said on Saturday, the latest violence in the largely lawless North African nation.
The hours-long clashes, which involved heavy weapons, took place on Friday in the eastern Tripoli neighborhood of Tajoura between the Rahba al-Darwieh militia, led by warlord Bashir Khalafullah, known as al-Baqara, and another militia, Al-Shahida Sabriyah. Officials added.
Ambulance and emergency services of the Ministry of Health announced that at least 9 people were killed and 16 others were injured in the clashes that lasted for several hours.
According to local media reports, these clashes were caused by an attempt to assassinate al-Baqarah on Friday, which his militia blamed on al-Shahda Sabriyeh.
Khalid al-Mashari, the newly elected head of the Supreme Council of the West-based government, condemned the attack and called for an investigation to hold those responsible accountable.
The warring parties are united with the government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Debiba. Its spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The United Nations mission in Libya on Saturday deplored the clashes, the use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas and the military buildup in and around the capital.
A statement said: “These conflicts are a reminder of the vital need to unify the military and security apparatuses, to create legal and accountable institutions.” They also stress the urgent need to expedite an inclusive political process leading to credible elections.
The violence underscored the fragility of war-torn Libya after a 2011 uprising turned civil war that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Amid the chaos, the militia grew in wealth and power, especially in Tripoli and the western part of the country.
Libya has been divided for years between rival governments in the east and west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments. Currently, Debiba's government is run in Tripoli and by Prime Minister Osama Hammad's government in the east.
Western Libya is controlled by a collection of lawless militias allied with the government of Debiba, while the forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar control the east and south of the country.
Friday's infighting among militias was the latest in a series of clashes between militias vying for influence in the west of the country.
In May, militant clashes rocked the coastal city of Zawiya, trapping families inside their homes, killing at least one person and wounding 22 others. And in August last year, a 24-hour period of fighting between rival militias in Tripoli left at least 45 dead.
The clashes in the capital came as Haftar's forces announced that they had deployed their forces to the southwestern regions to secure Libya's southern borders. The deployment prompted militias in western Libya to mobilize amid growing concerns about a possible new war between eastern and western Libya.
The United Nations delegation and Western embassies in Libya have raised concerns that the military movement could explode into an all-out war between Haftar's forces and Western-based militias, four years after a ceasefire agreement ended a 14-month war between the two. , expressed the parties
A joint statement from the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the United States said: “Such moves risk escalation and violent confrontation and could jeopardize the 2020 ceasefire.”
