عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Tripoli Fighting Continues, More Civilians Flee

Fighters loyal to the GNA seen during a break from fighting, in a military base in Tajoura, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on May 1, 2019. FADEL SENNA / AFP
Fighters loyal to the GNA seen during a break from fighting, in a military base in Tajoura, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on May 1, 2019. FADEL SENNA / AFP
TT
20
TT

Tripoli Fighting Continues, More Civilians Flee

Fighters loyal to the GNA seen during a break from fighting, in a military base in Tajoura, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on May 1, 2019. FADEL SENNA / AFP
Fighters loyal to the GNA seen during a break from fighting, in a military base in Tajoura, south of the Libyan capital Tripoli on May 1, 2019. FADEL SENNA / AFP

Heavy fighting raged overnight in the battle for Libya's capital Tripoli as an offensive by Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar entered its fifth week.

There were heavy clashes between the LNA and forces backing the head of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, from Thursday afternoon until early morning Friday in the area of the former international airport but the frontline has changed little, residents said.

In Geneva, the United Nations said that despite the latest clashes, no air strikes or artillery barrages had hit civilians or residential areas.

Since the offensive began, 102 civilian casualties had been counted, 23 of them killed, it said.

More than 48,500 people in Tripoli had fled their homes for safer areas, it said, including 6,000 registered in the past 48 hours.

Others remain trapped in conflict zones, where food is running short and the wounded and sick are in need of medical help.

The UAE said on Thursday that fighting "terrorism" was a priority in Libya.

"Priority in Libya to counter extremism/terrorism and support stability in long drawn out crisis," the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said on Twitter.

“Extremist militias continue to control capital and derail search for political solution," he added.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

Suspected RSF Strike Hits a Prison, Killing at Least 19 in Sudan, Officials Say

A view shows a large plume of smoke and fire rising from fuel depot in Port Sudan, Sudan, May 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a large plume of smoke and fire rising from fuel depot in Port Sudan, Sudan, May 6, 2025. (Reuters)
TT
20
TT

Suspected RSF Strike Hits a Prison, Killing at Least 19 in Sudan, Officials Say

A view shows a large plume of smoke and fire rising from fuel depot in Port Sudan, Sudan, May 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a large plume of smoke and fire rising from fuel depot in Port Sudan, Sudan, May 6, 2025. (Reuters)

A suspected drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces hit a prison in Sudan's southern region of Kordofan on Saturday and killed at least 19 prisoners, authorities said, the latest deadly attack in the country’s more than two-year civil war.

The attack on the main prison in Obeid, the capital city of North Kordofan, also wounded 45 other prisoners, according to a statement from the province’s police forces.

The statement accused the Rapid Support Forces of launching the attack, which came as the RSF escalated its drone strikes on the military-held areas across the country.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been at war with the Sudanese military for more than two years.

Earlier this month, the RSF launched multi-day drone attack on Port Sudan, the Red Sea city serving as an interim seat for the Sudanese government. The strikes hit the city’s airports, maritime port and other facilities including fuel storages.

The RSF escalation came after the military struck the Nyala airport in South Darfur, where the RSF receives foreign military assistance, including drones. Local media say dozens of RSF officers were killed in last week's strike.

Sudan plunged into chaos on April 15, 2023, when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare in the capital Khartoum and other parts of the country. Obeid is 363 kilometers (225 miles) south of Khartoum.

Since then, at least 24,000 people have been killed, though the number is likely far higher. The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who crossed into neighboring countries. The conflict also has pushed parts of the country into famine.

The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western Darfur region, according to the UN and international rights groups.