UN officials are once again expressing hope that fighting which has raged in the Libyan capital of Tripoli over the past two weeks is over, with the announcement of a new ceasefire between the UN-backed “unity” government and a militia
The two sides have been fighting through several ceasefires in that time, and has centered on southern Tripoli. At least 61 have been killed in the fighting, including a large number of civilians, with another 159 wounded.
Militia leader Saleh Badi is calling on fighters to take up arms against the unity government to free Tripoli from corruption. His faction is mostly loyal to a previous Tripoli parliament and has been staging heavy fighting.
UN officials continue to express concern about the fate of a group of hundreds of migrants who the unity government were holding in detention in that part of the city. When fighting broke out the guards fled, locking the migrants in without food or water. There have been reports that they managed to escaped, with some spinning this as a “prison break.”