UN says south Libya tense after tribal warfare

BENGHAZI — The United Nations said the situation in a remote southern part of Libya where more than 100 people were killed in tribal warfare this month remains tense although a ceasefire brokered by local officials is still holding.

Monday’s statement by the UN Support Mission in Libya said that as much as half of the population of Kufra has fled and that around 200 foreign migrants are still waiting to be moved out of the area.

The clashes that broke out Feb. 11 underscore the struggle facing Libya’s new leaders to enforce security, disarm people and unify multiple militias that took part in an eight-month civil war that ended with the capture and killing of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi in October.

Dozens were killed this month by rockets, mortars and gunfire that rocked residential areas in the desert town, which is some 500 miles (800 kilometers) away from the more populated coastal city of Derna.

The UN said it provided people there with food, medicine, mattresses, blankets and hygiene kits to vulnerable communities whose basic services have been interrupted by fighting.

The injured packed the city’s three-room hospital for days during the clashes. Many had no beds to sleep on. There was one doctor and 15 nurses using empty bottles of water as blood bags. Patients had to share one ventilator.