Death Toll Rises in Tripoli Clashes

At least 23 people have died and 140 have been injured in brutal clashes between rival Libyan militants in the capital city of Tripoli, the Libyan Ministry of Health reported on Saturday, as CNN informs.

Intense fighting erupted overnight in the capital as rival factions exchanged heavy gunfire, and several powerful explosions shook the city. Images and videos circulating on social media show buildings damaged due to the clashes, including residential ones, along with several burned-out vehicles.

Libya has been divided among warring factions since 2014, following the NATO-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The United Nations-supported Government of National Unity (GNU) announced via its official Facebook page that the clashes began when a military group fired indiscriminately at a passing convoy.

The country’s interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, who leads the Government of National Unity, is currently in Tripoli, located in the western part of Libya. In Tobruk, in the eastern part of the country, the parliamentary building serves as the seat of the rival government led by Fathi Bashagha. Bashagha has attempted to enter and seize Tripoli, claiming that the GNU is illegal and must step aside.

The GNU has rejected this, insisting that power should be transferred peacefully through elections rather than by force. The Tripoli municipality holds both the UN-recognized Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army responsible for the deteriorating situation in the capital, as reported by the internationally recognized government’s official news agency, LANA.