CAIRO: Clashes between two heavily armed policemen in the Libyan capital terrorized residents and killed about a dozen people, the latest bout of violence in the largely lawless North African country, officials said Saturday.
Clashes involving heavy weapons took place on Friday in Tripoli's eastern district of Tajura between the Rahba Al-Durua militia, led by warlord Bashir Khalfala, known as Al-Bakra, and another militia, Ash Shahid Sabriya, the officials added.
The Ministry of Health's emergency services said at least nine people were killed and 16 others were injured in the hours-long clashes.
The clashes stemmed from an assassination attempt on al-Bakri on Friday, which his militia blamed on al-Shahid Sabriya, local media reported.
Khaled Al-Meshri, the newly elected head of the Supreme Council of State in the west of the country, condemned the attack and called for an investigation to bring those responsible to justice.
The warring parties are allied with the government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbaybah. His spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The UN mission in Libya on Saturday deplored the clashes, the use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas and the build-up of military forces in and around the capital.
“These clashes serve as a reminder of the urgent need to unify the army and the security apparatus, to create legitimate and accountable institutions,” the statement said. “They also highlight the urgent need to speed up an inclusive political process that leads to credible elections.”
The violence underscored the fragility of war-torn Libya after a 2011 uprising turned into civil war that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Amidst the chaos, militias have grown in wealth and power, particularly in Tripoli and the western part of the country.
Libya has for years been divided between warring administrations in the east and west, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments. It is currently governed by the Dbeiba government in Tripoli and the administration of Prime Minister Osama Hamad in the east of the country.
Western Libya is controlled by a group of lawless militias linked to Dbeiba's government, while the forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar control the country's east and south.
The militia fighting on Friday was the latest in a series of clashes between militias fighting for influence in the west of the country.
In May, militia clashes erupted in the coastal town of Zawiya, leaving families trapped in their homes, killing at least one person and injuring 22 others. And last August, at least 45 people were killed in a 24-hour period of fighting between rival militias in Tripoli.
Clashes in the capital came after Haftar's forces said they had deployed troops in southwestern areas to secure Libya's southern borders. The deployment has prompted militias in western Libya to mobilize amid growing concern about a potential new war between eastern and western Libya.
The United Nations mission and Western embassies in Libya have expressed concern that the military movement could explode into a full-scale war between Haftar's forces and militias in the West, four years after a ceasefire agreement ended a 14-month war between the two countries. parties.
“Such movements threaten escalation and violent confrontation and could jeopardize the 2020 ceasefire,” said a joint statement from the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and the United States.
