TRIPOLI: Gunfights between two major armed factions in Libya’s capital Tripoli have killed 27 people and injured 106, according to an update from the Emergency Medicine Center on Wednesday.
Overnight, the center, which handles emergency services in Tripoli’s west, posted the “provisional” toll on its Facebook page.
Clashes erupted on Monday night between the powerful 444 Brigade and the Al-Radaa, or Special Deterrence Force, two of the numerous militias that have vied for control since the toppling of longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
According to the group, 234 families were evacuated from front line locations in the capital’s southern suburbs, as well as scores of doctors and nurses who became caught by the fighting while caring for the wounded.
When the combat started, three field hospitals and a fleet of roughly 60 ambulances were rushed to the region.
The skirmishes were sparked by the rival Al-Radaa Force’s imprisonment of the 444 Brigade’s commander, Col. Mahmud Hamza, on Monday, according to an interior ministry spokesman.
Late Tuesday, the Soug el-Joumaa social council, a stronghold of the Al-Radaa force, announced an agreement had been reached with Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, head of the UN-recognized government based in the capital, for Hamza to be handed over to a “neutral party.”
The council declared a cease-fire following the transfer of the force’s commander in a televised announcement, and the fighting ceased late Tuesday.
Both armed groups support Dbeibah’s government, one of two alternative administrations vying for power through shifting alliances with local militias.
In May, the two factions battled for hours in Tripoli, also following the arrest of a member of the 444 Brigade.
Since the NATO-backed rebellion that deposed Qaddafi, Libya has seen more than a decade of intermittent violence.
After a period of relative calm, the United Nations expressed hope that delayed elections would take place this year, and the current fighting prompted international pleas for calm.
The UN Support Mission in Libya stated in a statement that it was “following with concern” the worsening of security in Libya’s capital and its impact on residents.
“All parties must maintain recent security gains and address differences through dialogue,” UNSMIL said.
The British, French, European Union, and US embassies all echoed the UN appeal for de-escalation.
The battle caused the closure of Mitiga, Libya’s only civilian airport, which is located in a territory controlled by Al-Radaa, officials said on Tuesday.
Flights were redirected to Misrata, 180 kilometers (110 miles) to the east, while planes parked on the tarmac were relocated.
The 444 Brigade is linked with Libya’s military ministry and is often regarded as the most disciplined unit in the North African country. It has influence over Tripoli’s southern suburbs and other places.
Abdel Rauf Karah leads the Al-Radaa Force, a formidable ultra-conservative militia that serves as Tripoli’s police force.
It claims independence from the interior and defense ministries and controls central and eastern Tripoli, as well as the Mitiga air base, the civilian airport, and a prison.
Libya is divided between Dbeibah’s UN-backed administration in the west and Khalifa Haftar’s military-backed government in the east.
When factions backing the Haftar-backed government clashed with Dbeibah’s forces in Tripoli last August, 32 people were killed and 159 were injured.
Elections in Libya were scheduled for December 2021, but disagreements over who might run resulted in their cancellation indefinitely, despite UN efforts to resolve the issues.
Source: AFP