Hassan Al-Werfalli (Benghazi, Al Ittihad)
Yesterday, a Libyan security source reported that armed clashes took place between the Joint Operations Force and an “outlaw” group in the “Zureik” area, west of Misurata. The source said, “An outlaw group affiliated with the Prime Minister-designate from Parliament, Fathi Bashagha, opened fire on one of the joint force’s patrols in the Zureik area, wounding one of its members.” He added that “the force evacuated the place after the clash with the armed group that was carrying out an unauthorized search on the coastal road.”
Washington’s ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, said the Misrata clashes show the dangerous possibility that the latest violence will escalate.
“The United States urges all political actors and their supporters among armed groups to withdraw to avoid escalation and further loss of life,” Norland added, in a statement published by his country’s embassy on Twitter. He explained that “armed efforts, whether to test or defend the current political situation, risk bringing Libya back to an era that its citizens believed had passed.”
And he added, “These escalating tensions demonstrate the urgency for Libyan political leaders to immediately adopt an agreed-upon path to holding elections that can create a truly legitimate, united government that serves the interests of all Libyans.”
In turn, Michael Unmacht, the German ambassador to Libya, called on all actors in the country to refrain from violence and support all efforts aimed at finding the basis for a peaceful and sustainable solution, through dialogue and elections.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life as a result of the Tripoli clashes,” the German ambassador said, in his tweets on Twitter, expressing deep concern about the escalation of armed violence affecting civilians in Tripoli and beyond.
In turn, the Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General for Libyan Affairs, Stephanie Williams, called for the perpetrators of the violence in Tripoli to be held accountable.
“I am outraged by the violence that erupted in Tripoli, which claimed the lives of many people, including women and children who were at a wedding party,” Williams said on her Twitter account.
The death toll from the bloody clashes between two armed groups in Tripoli during the past hours rose to 16 dead, including three children, and 52 wounded receiving treatment in the capital’s hospitals, amid a state of relative calm after agreeing to a truce to remove families stuck in the areas of clashes.
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