For second day in row, calm prevails in Libyan capital

By Walid Abdullah

TRIPOLI

Cautious calm prevailed in Libyan capital Tripoli for the second day in a row on Thursday thanks to a UN-brokered ceasefire signed two days earlier between rival militia groups.

According to Libya’s Tripoli-based Health Ministry, at least 66 people were killed in fighting that had rocked the capital since August 26.

Another 187 were injured over the same period, the ministry said, while 12 more remain unaccounted for.

Local eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that Tripoli and its outskirts appeared calm for the most part despite the presence of militia groups armed with heavy weapons.

At a Wednesday meeting in Tripoli between UN envoy Ghassan Salame and Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of Libya's UN-backed unity government, the latter said that all steps had been taken to ensure the success of Tuesday’s ceasefire agreement.

Parties to the truce agreed to cease all hostilities, ensure that civilians were not put at risk and that human rights are respected in line with international conventions.

The violence first erupted late last month after Libya’s Seventh Infantry Brigade (affiliated with the Defense Ministry) accused the Tripoli Revolutionary Brigade (affiliated with the Interior Ministry) of attacking its positions in Tripoli’s southern outskirts.

Libya has remained dogged by turmoil since 2011 when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the death of longstanding leader Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily-armed militia groups.