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August 17, 2023 03:34 UTC

We don’t have to see anyone in person,” he told AFP over WhatsApp. ‘Humiliated, beaten’One travel agent in Daraa told an AFP correspondent posing as a migrant that a package deal cost $6,500. “Every six months, we use the fighters’ rotation to send people with them,” the recruiter told AFP. Listed as “fighters”, the Syrian migrants are entitled to a Turkish-paid “salary” of around $2,500, the recruiter said. Migrants told AFP a smuggler’s associate — sometimes a security officer — escorted them out of Benghazi’s Benina airport.

August 17, 2023 03:25 UTC

Clashes between two powerful militias supporting Libya’s UN-backed government erupted in Tripoli, resulting in the deaths of 55 people and injuries to 146 others. The fighting caused the city’s main airport to close and only ceased after one side released a detained commander that had triggered the conflict. Libya has been marked by political chaos since the overthrow and killing of long-serving ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country is divided between an internationally recognized government in Tripoli and another in the east. Despite a 2020 ceasefire, factionalism remains a threat to stability.

August 17, 2023 00:01 UTC

"The number of those killed in today’s clashes has risen to 27," the channel quoted the Libyan emergency medicine center as saying, TASS reported. Previously, nine people were reported to have been killed and dozens injured. Armed clashes sparked in Tripoli late on August 14 between the 444th brigade and the so-called Special Deterrence Force. As the Libya Al Ahrar television reported later, elders of the Suq al-Jum'a district east of Tripoli handed over the commander to the chief of the GNA general staff at Mitiga Airport. However, as local television reported, gunfire and sporadic clashes in the capital continued even after the handover.

August 16, 2023 19:42 UTC

Hamza was transferred on Tuesday afternoon to the prison of the Stability Support Agency, another armed wing linked to Libya's Presidential Council, a source from the 444 Brigade, which brokered the ceasefire that remains in place on Wednesday, confirmed to EFE. "We face the danger of armed formations and we urge increased institutional support in the city of Zawiya. We must take care of the youth," Haddad declared at the time. Both Libya's Tripoli-based High Council of State, which is linked to the GUN, and the Libyan parliament, based in the eastern part of the country under Haftar's military control, condemned the attacks. Both rival chambers advocated the development of a political roadmap, through the 6+6 Joint Committee, to move forward in convening parliamentary and presidential elections and unifying the country, whose western part faces growing internal insecurity due to rivalry between militias.

August 16, 2023 18:01 UTC





A Tripoli health agency said 27 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the violence, without saying if the figure included both combatants and civilians. The Special Deterrence Force and the 444 Brigade are two of the strongest military forces in Tripoli and their fighting from late on Monday rocked districts across the capital. Libya has had little peace or security since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising and it split in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions. An assault by eastern forces on Tripoli, in the west, collapsed in 2020 leading to a ceasefire that has halted most major warfare. Turkey, which backed the Tripoli government, maintained a military presence in Libya.

August 16, 2023 18:01 UTC

The clashes erupted late on Monday between militiamen from the 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, and continued into Tuesday evening. Hamza was later released as part of deal aimed at quelling the violence, the reports said. Libyan security forces patrolled the streets and fanned out across Tripoli on Wednesday. Last August, clashes between two other militia active in the capital killed at least 23 people. “No progress whatsoever was made on those fronts.”The 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force are two of the largest militias operating in Tripoli.

August 16, 2023 17:49 UTC

TRIPOLI: Tripoli’s worst armed clashes in a year have killed 55 people and wounded 146, Libyan media reported Wednesday, as a truce took hold. The clashes were triggered by the detention of the head of the 444 Brigade, Col. Mahmud Hamza, by the rival Al-Radaa Force on Monday, an interior ministry official said. In May, the two armed groups had clashed for hours in Tripoli, also after the arrest of a 444 Brigade member. Human Rights Watch Libya researcher Hanan Saleh expressed outrage that the capital’s armed groups continued to settle their differences with heavy weaponry in residential areas without being held accountable. The 444 Brigade is affiliated with Libya’s defense ministry and is reputed to be the North African country’s most disciplined.

August 16, 2023 17:44 UTC

CAIRO (AP) — The death toll in this week’s clashes between rival militias in Libya’s capital rose to 45 on Wednesday as troops fanned out across Tripoli to restore calm after a 24-hour bout of fighting that was the city’s most intense violence this year. The clashes erupted late on Monday between militiamen from the 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, and continued into Tuesday evening. Tensions flared after Mahmoud Hamza, a senior commander of the 444 brigade, was allegedly detained by the rival group at an airport in Tripoli, according to local media reports. Last August, clashes between two other militia active in the capital killed at least 23 people. “No progress whatsoever was made on those fronts.”The 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force are two of the largest militias operating in Tripoli.

August 16, 2023 17:41 UTC

Clashes between rival militias in Libya’s capital killed at least 27 people and left residents trapped in their homes Tuesday, unable to escape the violence, medical authorities said. In addition to the 27 deaths, more than 100 people were injured in the fighting, Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center, a medical body deployed during humanitarian disasters and wars, said early Wednesday. The clashes erupted late Monday between militiamen from the 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, according to local media. The escalation follows months of relative peace after nearly a decade of civil war in Libya, where two rival sets of authorities are locked in a political stalemate. AdvertisementBoth of Libya’s rival administrations condemned the fighting in separate statements Tuesday.

August 16, 2023 17:37 UTC

By Hamdi Alkhshali and Ruba Alhenawi, CNN(CNN) — At least 55 people were killed and 146 others injured when clashes broke out between two powerful armed factions in the southern Libyan capital of Tripoli, emergency services spokesman Malik Marseet told local media outlets on Wednesday. He was apprehended by a rival faction, the Special Deterrence Force, which controls the airport. The clashes ceased late on Tuesday following an agreement reached with the UN-recognized Government of National Unity to transfer Hamza to a neutral party, as reported by state news agency LANA. The fighting is considered the most severe of this year with images showing smoke rising above the capital following the overnight battles. The Special Deterrence Force and the 444 Brigade are considered the strongest military forces in the Libyan capital, according to Reuters.

August 16, 2023 17:37 UTC

We don’t have to see anyone in person,” he told AFP over WhatsApp. “Every six months, we use the fighters’ rotation to send people with them,” the recruiter told AFP. Several Syrians told AFP that on their flights to Benghazi, direct or not, were many refugees bound for Europe. But the Deraa smuggler told AFP this was not a problem: “In Libya, like in Syria, paying off security officials can solve everything. Refugees told AFP a smuggler’s associate – sometimes a security officer – escorted them out of Benghazi’s Benina airport.

August 16, 2023 17:24 UTC

TRIPOLI (Reuters) -The casualty toll from clashes in Libya's capital Tripoli over Monday and Tuesday was 55 killed and 146 wounded, the emergency services said. Hamza had been seized by the Special Deterrence Force, which controls Mitiga airport, as he attempted to travel on Monday. Airlines that on Tuesday stopped using Mitiga airport, where some of the worst fighting took place, resumed flights on Wednesday, they said. As part of the deal announced by the elders, police and other security forces that stayed neutral in the clashes moved into areas where the fighting took place. (Reporting by Reuters Libya newsroom, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Angus MacSwan)

August 16, 2023 17:22 UTC

Image used for representation only. QNADoha, Qatar: The State of Qatar expressed its deep concern over the developments in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and called on all parties involved to avoid escalation, exercise maximum restraint, heed the voice of reason, pursue dialogue to overcome differences, and spare civilians the consequences of the fighting. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed Qatar’s full support for the efforts made by United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to achieve peace and stability in the country. The Ministry also renewed Qatar’s full support for the Libyan political track, the relevant Security Council resolutions, and all peaceful solutions that preserve Libya’s unity, stability and sovereignty, and achieve the aspirations of its brotherly people for development and prosperity.

August 16, 2023 17:20 UTC

TRIPOLI: Gun battles between the two leading armed groups in Tripoli killed two people and forced the closure of the Libyan capital’s only civilian airport, officials said on Tuesday. A period of relative stability had led the United Nations to express hope for delayed elections to take place this year, and the latest fighting triggered international calls for calm. In May, the two sides had clashed for hours in Tripoli, also after the arrest of a 444 Brigade member. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya said in a statement it was “following with concern” the security deterioration in the Libyan capital and its impact on civilians. The embassies of the United States, United Kingdom, France and the European Union echoed the UN call for de-escalation.

August 16, 2023 03:41 UTC