Libya militias battle in Tripoli after commander’s arrest
In the capital, Tripoli, a fight between two strong militias supporting the UN-backed government of Libya left 146 people injured and 55 dead, according to medical personnel.
The city’s major airport had to close due to the intense violence, which broke out on Monday and continued till late Tuesday.
Fighting only stopped after one side freed a commander whose incarceration started it.
After long-time leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and murdered in 2011, Libya is now in a state of political instability.
A temporary, internationally recognized administration in Tripoli and another in the east essentially control separate portions of the nation today.
A truce in 2020 has contributed to some degree of calm, but ingrained factionalism on all sides always poses a danger to disturb it.
Battles broke out in various parts of the capital, notably Ain Zara in the southeast, trapping many people inside their houses.
The most recent conflict occurred in Tripoli, where Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah is in charge of the government.
The Special Deterrence Force, which oversees the airport, detained a senior commander from the 444 Brigade on Monday as he attempted to leave.
The leader had previously served as an officer in the competing militia, according to the Reuters news agency.
3 field hospitals were established to care for the casualties, 60 ambulances were dispatched, and 234 families had to be evacuated from frontline areas, according to Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center.
According to the AFP news agency, the prime minister stepped in and was able to secure the commander’s release to a “neutral party.”
He subsequently took a tour of the impacted neighborhoods to gauge the extent of the harm.
Later on Wednesday, the airport reopened, according to AFP.
Concerned about the potential effects of these events on the continuing work to prepare for elections that were delayed two years ago, the UN mission expressed alarm.
All parties must maintain the security improvements made in recent years and resolve disagreements via discussion, according to its statement.
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