Worst Tripoli fighting in a year tests Libya ceasefire

TRIPOLI, Fighting broke out in Tripoli early on Friday between rival armed forces, witnesses said, the heaviest clashes in the Libyan capital since the conflict between eastern and western factions paused a year ago.

A resident of the Salah al-Din district in southern Tripoli said the shooting began at about 2:30 am and continued through the morning with medium and light weapons. There was no immediate report of casualties.

Despite a ceasefire and the progress earlier this year towards a political solution to Libya’s crisis, there has been no movement towards integrating its myriad armed groups into a unified national military.

The new fighting pitted the 444 Brigade against the Stabilisation Support Force, two of the main forces in Tripoli, a witness said.

It follows major clashes last month in the city of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, and smaller incidents of friction or clashes inside the capital including a gunfight this week at a state institution.

In eastern Libya, controlled by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), there have also been shootings and other incidents of violence in recent months.

Libya has had little peace since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi, and in 2014 it divided between the warring eastern and western factions.

However, they agreed to a ceasefire last year and a new unity government that both sides backed was installed in March to prepare for national elections in December, moves seen as the best chance for peace in years.

The Tripoli-based unity government has, however, struggled to unify state institutions or prepare for elections, with the eastern-based parliament rejecting its budget and failing to agree on a constitutional basis for a vote.

Meanwhile, Morocco’s foreign minister has called on the Libyan parties to arrange for presidential and legislative elections in a timely manner, adding that the country’s stability depends on it.

Nasser Bourita’s remarks came during a joint news conference with Libya’s Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh on Thursday, following a meeting in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

For his part, Saleh called on neighboring countries and the international community to support Libya holding elections on time and said the situation in Libya would be worse if elections were to be postponed.

Source: NAM News Network