File Photo/ReutersWater supplies to the 2.5 million residents of Tripoli were restored two days after they were cut off by gunmen, officials said on Tuesday, allowing the besieged capital to escape shortages that could have caused a humanitarian crisis. Libya’s internationally recognised government had accused forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, which have been trying to capture Tripoli, of being behind the blockage. "The crisis of halting water supplies has ended and flows have started," the Great Man-Made River company, a pipe network supplying ground water from the Sahara, said in a statement. Supplies to city residents were not immediately halted because the water system holds two days of capacity. The UN-backed government of Prime Minister Fayez Al Serraj had blamed a group that also cut the water supplies in 2017, saying its commander, Khalifa Ehnaish, belonged to Haftar’s forces.

Source: Libya Today May 21, 2019 09:00 UTC