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The years of fighting between the various militias in the war-torn country reached a crescendo on Thursday when Haftar ordered the Libyan National Army (LNA) to march on Tripoli in order to take the capital to government.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that at least 47 people had been killed and 181 injured during the first three days of fighting in this beleaguered North African country.
Nine of the dead are civilians, including two doctors working to provide critical health care in Tripoli, said the WHO. About 3,400 people have been displaced, according to UN estimates.
Militia from the coastal towns of Misrata and Zawia – which are not under the direct control of the UN-recognized government – have deployed troops into the capital as part of the counter-offensive against the LNA.
The death toll is rising
Based in the city of Benghazi, the general controls almost the entire eastern part of Libya and aims Tripoli.
Earlier this week, Tripoli's only airport, Mitiga, was shut down after being targeted in an airstrike that ignored international calls for a truce. The GNA quickly condemned the air bombardment as a war crime.
Fighting also took place around Tripoli International Airport, located 24 km south of the city center, which had not been operational for years. The GNA acknowledged Monday that it temporarily lost control of the site for the benefit of the Haftar fighters.
Armed clashes concentrated in areas near Tripoli, with both sides using "artillery fire, air strikes, anti-aircraft missiles and live fire in residential areas," according to a progress report. of the health sector working group consulted by CNN.
Activists, who belong to the ISIS terrorist group, on Tuesday launched an attack on the city of Al-Fuqaha, about 600 km southeast of Tripoli, killing two people, including the city council president, according to Al Liberty. -Ahrar News.
The attackers also kidnapped another person, Al-Ahrar said. The militant group said in a statement it took control of the city for several hours, but did not provide any evidence to support this claim.
Peace conference?
The UN had planned to hold a conference from 14 to 16 April in the city of Ghadames in south-western Libya to find a solution to the crisis.
In the midst of escalating hostilities, the UN special envoy to Libya, Ghbadan Salame, called for holding the conference "as soon as possible" – but it is unclear when, considering recent developments in the situation.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Benghazi last week for talks with Haftar to press for an international peace deal, but left empty-handed.
After their meeting, Guterres announced that he was leaving Libya "heart heavy and deeply worried.I still hope that it will be possible to avoid a bloody confrontation in Tripoli and the surrounding area. ".
CNN's Schams Elwazer and Nada Bashir in London, Kareem Khadder in Amman, Nada Al-Taha in Abu Dhabi and Ruba Alhenawi in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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