"Due to the violent clashes and deteriorating security conditions in Tripoli, 149 refugees and vulnerable asylum seekers were evacuated and transferred to Rome," the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. Those airlifted to safety -- including a two-month-old infant -- came from Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia, it said. READ ALSO: Italian navy rescues 100 people stranded in the MedPhoto: Marina Militare/AFP"Other evacuation operations are needed," the UNHCR mission head in Libya, Jean-Paul Cavalieri, was quoted as saying. "These operations represent a lifeline for refugees, for whom the only way to escape is to entrust their lives to unscrupulous traffickers in order to cross the Mediterranean," he said. Clashes between rival forces in Libya and heavy bombardments have forced more than 83,000 Libyans to flee their homes since the start of April, according to the UN.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 31, 2019 07:33 UTC