Libya flag
from AHMED ZAYED in Tripoli, Libya
TRIPOLI, (CAJ News) – LIBYA risks spilling into fresh fighting as foreign countries violate an arms embargo they committed to only a week ago.
Concerned countries made the commitment on January 19 following what was then hailed as a successful International Conference on Libya, held in Berlin, the German capital.
This gave a major boost to the January 12 truce agreed by the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA), which led to remarked reduction of hostilities in the local capital, Tripoli.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) expressed deep regret this fragile truce is now under threat by the ongoing transfer of foreign fighters, weapons, ammunition and advanced systems to the parties by member states, including several who participated in the Berlin Conference.
The peacekeeping mission reported that over the last ten days, numerous cargo and other flights had been observed landing at airports in eastern and western Libya providing warring parties with advanced weapons, armoured vehicles, advisers and fighters.
“The mission condemns these ongoing violations, which risk plunging the country into a renewed and intensified round of fighting,” it stated.
The conference in Germany, widely endorsed globally, was seen as a window of opportunity for the North African country of 6,8 million to regain peace.
Conflict has torn Libya apart since a rebellion against former Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi, who was eventually unseated and murdered in 2011.
The invading North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombers supported by United States of America (USA) and France helped the local Libyan rebels to capture and kill Gaddafi in 2011.
Since the latest outbreak in April last year, some 285 civilians have been killed and 365 injured.
More than 140 000 persons have been forced to flee their homes while hordes of refugees risk lives crossing Mediterranean in makeshift boats for both safety and green pastures in Europe, mainly Italy, Greece, Turkey and France.
– CAJ News