At least one person was killed and six injured when fierce clashes broke out Saturday in the city of Zawiya in western Libya, prompting calls for a cease-fire to rescue families trapped in the conflict area, a Libyan TV channel said. Ali Ahneesh, head of the Red Crescent branch in Zawiya, told the Istanbul-based Libya Alahrar TV channel that 10 families had been evacuated, and called for "a cease-fire to evacuate families stuck in the areas where the clashes have taken place." Red Crescent volunteers had been receiving calls from families in the conflict area asking to be evacuated, he said. "The clashes in the morning were fierce, and the casualties are one killed and six injured," Tripoli-based Ambulance and Emergency Services spokesperson Osama Ali told the TV channel. Zawiya has witnessed repeated armed clashes that have at times forced the closure of the coastal road to the border with Tunisia.

Source: Libya Today May 18, 2024 19:19 UTC