Libya clashes toll hits 55 dead: Reports

Major warfare in Libya has been paused since a 2020 truce between the main eastern and western sides, but rival factions still hold most territory

Members of the Security personnel affiliated with the Ministry of Interior secure the streets after yesterday's clashes between armed factions in Tripoli, Libya, August 16, 2023. (REUTERS)

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The casualty toll from clashes in Libya’s capital Tripoli over Monday and Tuesday was 55 killed and 146 wounded, the emergency services said.

City elders announced late on Tuesday that they had brokered a deal to end Tripoli’s deadliest violence in years with the Special Deterrence Force handing 444 Brigade commander Mahmoud Hamza over to a third faction, the Stability Support Apparatus. Hamza had been seized by the Special Deterrence Force, which controls Mitiga airport, as he attempted to travel on Monday.

Airlines that on Tuesday stopped using Mitiga airport, where some of the worst fighting took place, resumed flights on Wednesday, they said.

As part of the deal announced by the elders, police and other security forces that stayed neutral in the clashes moved into areas where the fighting took place. However, the dispute remains unresolved and a source in 444 Brigade said it might resume military operations if Hamza was not returned to his own base.

Major warfare in Libya has been paused since a 2020 truce between the main eastern and western sides, but rival factions still hold most territory and a lasting solution to the conflict that has raged since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising looks distant.

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