Geneva, SWISS
The battle between rival groups for the Libyan capital has killed more than 1 000 people since it began in April, the United Nations said, a grim milestone in a stalemated conflict partly fueled by regional powers.
The battle between rival groups for the Libyan capital has killed more than 1 000 people since it began in April, the United Nations said, a grim milestone in a stalemated conflict partly fueled by regional powers.
The World
Health Organization said in a brief statement on Tuesday that 1
048 people have been killed since the offensive began, including 106 civilians.
It said 5,558 were wounded, including 289 civilians.
"WHO
continues to send doctors and medical supplies to help hospitals cope. Our
teams have performed more than 1 700 surgeries in three months," the UN
body said
on Twitter.
Forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a
renegade military commander, launched an offensive on Tripoli in early April,
advancing on the city's southern outskirts to wrestle the capital from forces
loyal to the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).
Haftar's Libyan National
Army, which holds eastern Libya and much of the country's south, enjoys the
support of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia.
But it has faced stiff
resistance from fighters aligned with the UN-recognized government, which is
aided by Turkey and Qatar.
The battle lines have changed
little since the offensive began, with both sides dug in and shelling one
another in the southern reaches of the capital.
Forces aligned with the GNA
recently recaptured Gharyan, a town 100km west of Tripoli, which is on a major
supply route.
Fighting has emptied entire
neighborhoods of civilians.
Thousands of African migrants
captured by Libyan forces funded and trained by the European Union are trapped
in detention centers near the front lines.
An air raid on one facility
last week killed more
than 50 people, mainly migrants held in a hangar that collapsed on top of them.
Libya slid into chaos
after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and
killed long-ruling dictator Moammar
Gaddafi.
Armed groups have
proliferated and the country emerged as a major transit point for refugees and
migrants fleeing war and poverty for a better life in Europe.
Haftar's supporters say he is
the only leader who can end militia rule, reunite the oil-rich country, and
keep it from being a safe haven for "terrorists".
But his critics see him as an
aspiring strongman, and his offensive appears to have at least temporarily
united western Libya's fractious forces in opposition to a return of one-man
rule.
On Friday, the UN Security
Council called on
the warring parties to commit to a ceasefire and seek a political solution
following the air attack on the migrant detention centre.
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