Libya’s warring parties under international pressure to end fighting in Tripoli

TRIPOLI: Libya’s warring parties Tuesday faced mounting international pressure to halt fighting near the capital that has caused thousands to flee and left several dozen people dead.

UN chief Antonio Guterres called late Monday for a ceasefire in the hostilities, after Tripoli’s only functional airport was hit in an air strike.

Guterres “urges the immediate halt of all military operations in order to de- escalate the situation and prevent an all- out conflict,” a statement from the United Nations said.

The oil-rich northern African country has been rocked by violent power struggles between an array of armed groups since the Nato- backed overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) controls the capital, but its authority is not recognised by a parallel administration in the east of the country, allied with military commander and strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Haftar’s forces, who launched a surprise offensive on the Libyan capital last week, claimed responsibility for Monday’s air raid on Mitiga airport.

It caused no casualties, but left a metre- deep crater on a runway.

Flights were suspended on Monday, but the airport was due to be reopened to night-time flights only late Tuesday.

The civil aviation authority has decided “only night flights can resume until further notice,” the spokesman for Libyan Airlines Mohamad Gniwa told AFP, adding the first flights would be to bring home travellers stuck abroad following the air strike.

Since his lightning offensive on Tripoli last Thursday, Hafter has defied international calls to halt his advance, including from the UN Security Council and the United States.

The unity government’s health ministry on Monday put the death toll in the fighting at 35.

Haftar’s forces have said 14 of their fighters have died.

The UN said the clashes have displaced some 3,400 people, up from an earlier estimate of 2,800.