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The self-proclaimed Libyan National Army of strongman Khalifa Haftar is conducting an offensive to take Tripoli. By – (LNA / AFP War Information Division)
The battle for the Libyan capital intensified as the UN Security Council was preparing to meet on Wednesday to discuss the crisis in the North African country, where armed rivals are struggling murderous for power.
In-camera talks in New York come one day after the UN postponed a Libyan national conference to establish a road map for the elections because of the fighting raging at the gates of Tripoli.
Libya has been divided into divisions since the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gaddafi, supported by NATO in 2011, as various armed groups and two parallel governments competed for oil and territorial wealth.
Heavy gunfire was heard during most of the night in Ain Zara district, in the southeastern suburbs of Tripoli, while strong human forces Khalifa Haftar urged an badault to take the capital of the Government of the UN-backed National Accord.
A detailed map of Tripoli locating areas affected by airstrikes and areas of potential conflict, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. By Paz PIZARRO (AFP) "The fighting has intensified, we are afraid to leave the house," a local resident told AFP, by telephone, where the roads were blocked, preventing people fleeing to flee.
The violence has already displaced thousands and left dozens dead.
The UN warned that nearly half a million children in Tripoli were "in immediate danger".
The so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) of Haftar, which controls part of the east of the country, said that it had seized a barracks in the Aziziya region, about 50 kilometers away. south of Tripoli, after "ferocious clashes".
He said several fighters loyal to the UN-backed government had been arrested and their weapons seized.
The internationally recognized government has conducted several air strikes against LNA positions south of Tripoli and has also hit supply lines in central Libya, GNA spokesman Colonel Mohamed Gnounou said Tuesday.
Haftar's forces appear to be advancing on two fronts, south and south-east of Tripoli, while the coastal roads to the east and west of the city are defended by GNA-loyal fighters. .
"Spare Civilians"
Hafter challenged international calls, including those from the United Nations Security Council and the United States, to end the surprise offensive launched Thursday.
Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al Sarraj, backed by the United Nations, is involved in a power struggle with former Gaddafi commander, strongman Khalifa Haftar. By FETHI BELAID, HO (AFP) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, called on the warring parties to "spare civilians, including refugees and stranded migrants in the country".
The United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF) urged all parties to "refrain from committing serious violations" of the rights of the child, including by recruiting child soldiers .
"Nearly half a million children in Tripoli and tens of thousands of others in the western regions are at direct risk due to the intensification of fighting," according to the statement. .
The GNA Ministry of Health announced Monday the death toll of 35 dead in the fighting. Haftar's forces said 14 of their fighters were dead.
The UN said the clashes had displaced about 3,400 people.
Led by Fayez al-Sarraj, the authority of the GNA is not recognized by a parallel administration in the east of the country, allied with Haftar.
LNA spokesman Ahmad al-Mesmari accused the union government of being "allied to Islamist militias" in the city of Misrata, 200 km east of the capital.
Peace efforts stagnate
International efforts to end the Libyan conflict have failed several times.
The rival leaders agreed last year to hold elections before December 10, 2018 as part of a French plan, but this vote never materialized.
The forces loyal to the UN-backed Libyan government include militia fighters from the city of Misrata. By Mahmud TURKIA (AFP) The national conference, to be held from April 14 to 16 in the central city of Ghadames, aimed to set the dates for the legislative and presidential elections and prepare a new constitution.
UN envoy Ghbadan Salame, announcing his postponement, said: "We can not ask people to participate in the conference during gunfire and air strikes".
He expressed the hope that the meeting would take place "as soon as possible".
Haftar, whose main allies are the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Russia, is a former Gaddafi military leader who has become a major player in the political struggle in Libya.
Its offensive threatens to plunge the country into a full-fledged civil war and has highlighted divisions between world powers over how to end the chaos that has reigned in Libya since 2011.
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