LibyaPolitics

At least 10 killed in ongoing clashes between rival militias in Tripoli

At least 10 people dead and 41 wounded as clashes continue between rival militias near Libya’s capital, Tripoli, the health ministry said on Thursday, without specifying whether the casualties were civilians or fighters.

Fighting between armed groups erupted on Wednesday despite a truce deal four months ago that had halted deadly battles in the city.

The wounded are receiving treatment in a number of public hospitals and private clinics, and most of them are in stable condition, the Health Ministry’s Director of the Inspection and Follow-up Department, Omar Al-Tuwair, said on Wednesday.

Fierce clashes hit an area about 50km south of Tripoli on Thursday, after fighting around an airport 25km from the city the previous day, a medical source told AFP.

The European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s diplomatic service, released a statement on Thursday, calling the resumed fighting “a worrying breach of the ceasefire” and reiterating the EU’s commitment to hold accountable “all those who undermine the political process or threaten the stability of Libya.”

Tripoli was plagued by militia clashes that killed at least 117 people and wounded more than 400 between last year.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Wednesday condemned a “military mobilization” in southern Tripoli and warned groups not to break a ceasefire agreement it brokered in last September.

Libya has been torn between rival administrations and rival militias since the overthrow of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

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