Rival Militias Violate Tripoli Ceasefire

Heavy security in a Tripoli street. Reuters file photo
Heavy security in a Tripoli street. Reuters file photo
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Rival Militias Violate Tripoli Ceasefire

Heavy security in a Tripoli street. Reuters file photo
Heavy security in a Tripoli street. Reuters file photo

Warring factions in the Libyan capital Tripoli have agreed to halt armed clashes and pave way for reconciliation attempts following a violation of a ceasefire deal, a semi-official committee announced on Thursday.

Ramadan Zarmouh, the head of the committee tasked with implementing security measures adopted by the Government of National Accord and the UN mission in Libya, said that the bickering militias resumed fighting in Tripoli on Wednesday. But they agreed to a ceasefire a day later.

The latest flareup of violence was the latest violation of a ceasefire that the GNA of Fayez al-Sarraj is seeking to impose in Tripoli since the heavy clashes it witnessed in September.

Following the announced ceasefire on Thursday, there was relative calm in the capital. Businesses and schools opened as usual and state institutions functioned normally.

“Schools are open to welcome their students while the city’s banks are trying to regulate their work,” the GNA-loyal news agency quoted Sarraj as saying.

Meanwhile, Libyan National Army spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said that the LNA has received intelligence reports that extremists would be moved from Syria to Libya via Sudan.

During a press conference he held in the eastern city of Benghazi, Mismari warned of a possible infiltration of terrorists.

There are more than 18,000 terrorists, including Libyans, in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, the spokesman said. “If the Syrian army continues to tighten the noose around them, they will be taken out of (the war-torn country) to Sudan and from there to Libya and other African states.”

He also told reporters that for the first time several extremists have been taken to trial at a military court.



Six Local Officials Detained Over Iraq Deadly Mall Fire

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS
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Six Local Officials Detained Over Iraq Deadly Mall Fire

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS

Iraq has detained six local officials and suspended other public employees following a fire that killed 61 people at a shopping mall earlier this week, authorities said Saturday.

The blaze broke out late Wednesday in a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern city of Kut.

After an initial investigation, the interior ministry said "there was clear negligence among several officials and employees" in Kut, located around 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad.

It added that three local officials, including the head of civil defense in Kut, had been detained, and 17 employees suspended from work until further notice.

The Commission of Integrity, an anti-graft body, said later that security forces had detained three more officials "over the violations that led to the fire" at the Corniche Hypermarket Mall, including the head of the violations department at Kut's municipality.

Officials say their investigation is ongoing, and the number of detainees may change.

The cause of the mall fire was not immediately known, but one survivor told AFP an air conditioner had exploded on the second floor before the five-story building was rapidly engulfed in flames.

Several people told AFP they lost family members -- and in some cases whole families -- who had gone to shop and dine at the mall days after it opened.