Air Raid on Migrant Detention Center in Libya Kills Forty
Yesterday, more than forty people were killed in an air raid on a migrant detention center in a Tripoli suburb. The internationally recognized government blamed the attack on forces loyal to renegade General Khalifa Haftar (Al Jazeera)
The United Nations intimated the attack could constitute a war crime (Washington Post)
Libya’s Haftar Frees Turkish Sailors
Responding to threats from Turkey, General Khalifa Haftar of the self-styled Libyan National Army freed six Turkish sailors who were captured when Haftar’s forces lost control over Gharyan last week (Guardian)
Eastern Libyan Forces Mobilize Against Tripoli
Today, General Khalifa Haftar’s forces announced they will begin heavy air strikes on Tripoli (Reuters)
The declaration follows tensions between Turkey and General Haftar’s forces, who shot down a Turkish drone near Tripoli’s airport and detained six Turkish citizens (Agence France-Presse)
Libyan Government Forces Retake Crucial Supply Base Outside Tripoli
Eyewitnesses report that forces aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA) launched an offensive to reassert control over Gharyan, a town close to Tripoli and the primary supply base for Libyan National Army (LNA) fighters. After the initial offensive, the GNA announced that it had successfully retaken the base (BBC)
U.S. Veteran Released in Libya
U.S. Air Force veteran Jamie Sponaugle was released by the Libyan National Army in Libya, where he had been held since May (CNN)
Rebel Libyan Forces Rule Out Talks Until Tripoli Taken
Forces fighting the internationally backed government in Tripoli said they will not agree to peace talks until they have captured the capital, according to a top lawmaker aligned with the forces. More than 650 people have been killed in the campaign led by renegade General Khalifa Haftar, according to the United Nations (Reuters)
UN Evacuates Refugees From Libya
The UN refugee agency evacuated 149 asylum seekers, including dozens of children, from Tripoli to Rome yesterday. The agency’s head in Libya said such evacuations are a lifeline for migrants whose only other option is to turn to smugglers (UNHCR)
Water Supplies Restored in Libya’s Tripoli
Water supplies were restored in Tripoli today, two days after an armed group that said it was loyal to renegade General Khalifa Haftar raided a water supply station and cut off its valves (Guardian)
Renegade Libyan Forces Claim to Shoot Down Warplane
The Libyan National Army, which is loyal to renegade General Khalifa Haftar, claimed it shot down a Tripoli government plane south of the capital that was being flown by a foreign mercenary. The armed group, which launched an offensive against the internationally backed government in April, identified the pilot as Portuguese (Reuters)
Libya’s Haftar Urges Troops to Fight Harder Over Tripoli
Hours after the United Nations called for a week-long humanitarian truce in Libya, self-styled Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar urged his troops to fight harder over Tripoli during Ramadan (Reuters)
Over the weekend, officials reported nearly two hundred deaths and more than one thousand casualties resulting from Libya’s most recent wave of fighting (Guardian)
Clashes in Libya’s Tripoli Continue to Escalate
Fighting between groups affiliated with the UN-backed government in Tripoli and forces of General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army continued yesterday, with airstrikes and shelling taking place in multiple locations on the outskirts of the city. Residents remain trapped by the fighting, with four more civilians reportedly killed (Associated Press)
Libyan Forces Push Back Against Haftar in Southern Tripoli
Forces loyal to Libya’s internationally recognized government reportedly gained back ground amid house-to-house battles yesterday with troops loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) in southern Tripoli (Reuters)
Red Cross: Thousands Fleeing Libyan Capital
More than thirty thousand people in and around Tripoli have fled their homes amid clashes between forces for the internationally backed government and troops loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar, according to the Red Cross. The World Health Organization said 278 people have been killed in the past three weeks (Al Jazeera)
Fighting Escalates Over Libya’s Tripoli
Forces loyal to Libya’s internationally recognized government reportedly pushed eastern opponents several miles back to Tripoli’s frontline. In response to the ongoing fighting, the United States issued a statement recognizing Libyan National Army (LNA) commander General Khalifa Haftar’s “significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya’s oil resources” (Reuters)
Death Toll in Libya’s Tripoli Fighting at 205
The World Health Organization said at least eighteen civilians were among the dead since a renegade general launched an offensive against the UN-recognized government in Tripoli in early April. The Tripoli government has accused General Khalifa Haftar of ordering aerial attacks on civilian areas (Al Jazeera)
Seven Killed by Shelling Near Libya’s Tripoli
A rocket attack overnight on a residential neighborhood of Tripoli killed at least seven people and wounded seventeen others, as forces affiliated with General Khalifa Haftar continue a nearly two-week assault on the city where the UN-backed government is based (Reuters)
UN Shelves Conference on Libya’s Future
The United Nations will postpone a national conference on Libya scheduled for next week in light of an assault on Tripoli by eastern-based forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar (Guardian)
Forces from Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army clashed with Tripoli-backed forces in the suburbs surrounding the capital today; the UN said at least 4,500 people have been displaced in the recent fighting (Reuters)
UN Condemns Rebel Air Strike on Tripoli Airport in Libya
The UN support mission to Libya said an air strike by forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar against Tripoli’s only civilian airport “constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law” (Libya Herald)
The strike comes amid fighting between the UN-backed, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord and Haftar’s forces (CNN)
United States Withdraws Troops From Libya
The U.S. Africa Command said it withdrew a small contingent of its forces in Libya amid an escalation between forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar and forces for the internationally recognized government in Tripoli (Wall Street Journal)
UN Security Council Calls Emergency Meeting on Libya
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on escalating tensions in Libya as forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar in the country’s east declared they were advancing toward Tripoli, where Libya’s internationally recognized government is based (Agence France-Presse)
Amid UN Visit, Tensions Rise Between Libyan Rivals
The internationally recognized Tripoli government said it issued an alert to its security forces after rival forces based in the east and loyal to General Khalifa Haftar said they had moved toward the country’s west (Al Jazeera)
The escalation came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Tripoli (Reuters)
Libya to Hold Elections
Government of National Accord leader Fayez Seraj said that Libya should hold parliamentary and presidential elections by the end of this year (Reuters)
Russian Private Military Company Backing Haftar’s LNA in Libya
A report claims the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, has three hundred personnel operating in Libya in support of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), led by General Khalifa Haftar (Telegraph)
Libyan Rivals Agree to Hold National Elections
During a recent meeting, internationally-recognized Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar agreed on the necessity of holding national elections in Libya (Reuters)
Libyan National Army Attacks Civilians in Southern Libya
An attack carried out by forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), killed at least nineteen civilians in the southern Libyan city of Murzuq as the LNA continues a push to gain control of the Sharara oilfield (Al Jazeera)