The European Union has said that the people of Libya are tired of being caught in crossfire and deserve their aspirations for peace to be finally heard and fulfilled over the latest armed clashes in the country.
According to the statement released by EU High Representative, Joseph Borell on Wednesday, said the Union is following with great attention and concern the latest violent events in Libya.
Tripoli’s worst armed clashes in a year have killed 55 people and wounded 146, Libyan media reported Wednesday, after a truce took hold in the capital and air traffic was restored.
Fighting erupted on Monday night and raged through Tuesday between the influential 444 Brigade and the Al-Radaa, or Special Deterrence Force, two of the myriad of militias that have vied for power since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
The Union said the clashes in Tripoli appear to have subsided, while urged all parties to continue to refrain from armed hostilities and to engage in dialogue in order to de-escalate the situation and restore calm.
The EU also called on all parties involved in acts of violence to uphold their obligations under International Humanitarian Law and to ensure the protection of civilians.
According to the Union, “The latest events are a vivid reminder of the fragility of the security situation in Libya and the urgent need for elections in order to find sustainable and inclusive political solution.
The EU reiterated its firm support to the mediation efforts led by the UN and its representative on the ground, Abdoulaye Bathily.
In August last year, 32 people were killed and 159 wounded in Tripoli during battles between divided Libya’s two rival administrations.
Libya’s Al-Ahrar TV updated the death toll to 55, citing Malek Mersit, spokesman for the Emergency Medical Centre which handles emergency response in the country’s west.
Libya has seen more than a decade of stop-start conflict since the NATO-backed revolt that toppled Kadhafi.
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.
The clashes with rocket launchers and machine-guns followed the detention of the 444 Brigade head, Colonel Mahmud Hamza, by the rival Al-Radaa Force on Monday, an interior ministry official said.
Late Tuesday, the social council in the southeastern suburb of Soug el-Joumaa, a stronghold of Al-Radaa, announced that an agreement had been reached with Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, head of the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, for Hamza to be handed over to a “neutral party”.