Heavy fighting erupted in the capital overnight as rival factions exchanged heavy gunfire and several loud explosions echoed across the city. Images and videos circulating on social media show the extent of the clashes with dozens of buildings, including residential ones, destroyed and several cars smashed and burned.
The UN-backed Government of National Unity (GNU) said on its official Facebook page that the clashes “were sparked by a military group firing randomly at a convoy passing through the street area Zawia, while armed groups gathered at Gate 27 west of Tripoli. and the Jebs Gate south of Tripoli.”
The country’s interim prime minister, Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, the head of the GNU, is based in Tripoli, in the western part of Libya. The parliament building in Tobruk, in the east of the country, is the seat of a rival government led by Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha.
Bashagha has been trying to come in and take over Tripoli as he claims the GNU is illegal and should be sidelined. The GNU has refused and has claimed that power should be handed over peacefully through elections, not by force.
The Libyan Red Crescent in a tweet on Saturday called on all parties “to support Libyan Red Crescent teams to carry out their humanitarian tasks in the city.”
Tripoli Municipality blamed both the UN-recognized Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army for the deteriorating situation in the capital, according to the Libyan News Agency LANA, the official government news agency internationally recognized.
He also called on the international community to protect civilians, LANA reported.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday called for an “immediate end” to the violence.
“(The Secretary-General) urges the Libyan parties to engage in genuine dialogue to address the ongoing political impasse and not to use force to resolve their differences. He further calls on the parties to protect civilians and refrain from taking any action that could increase tensions and deepen divisions,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general.
“The United Nations remains ready to offer good offices and mediation to help Libyan actors chart a way out of the political stalemate, which increasingly threatens Libya’s hard-won stability,” Dujarric said.
US Ambassador to Libya Richard B. Norland urged the importance of “avoiding violent clashes in Tripoli,” according to a tweet from the US Embassy in Libya.
Norland said he and Presidential Council Chairman Menfi discussed the need for de-escalation on Friday, the embassy tweeted Saturday.
“We agreed on the urgent need to finalize a constitutional basis and move towards elections, and also on the importance of taking steps to improve transparency and accountability in the management of Libya’s oil revenues,” the tweet added.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya said in a tweet on Saturday that it is “deeply concerned by the ongoing armed clashes, including indiscriminate medium and heavy shelling of civilian neighborhoods in Tripoli, which reportedly caused civilian casualties and damage to civilian facilities, including hospitals.”
“The UN calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and reminds all parties of their obligations under international human rights law and humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian objects,” the tweet added.