96 killed during month of Tripoli clashes: Libya gov’t

By Jihad Nasr

TRIPOLI

At least 96 people have been killed in on-again, off-again clashes that have rocked Libyan capital Tripoli since late last month.

On Thursday alone, 11 people were killed -- including five civilians -- and another 33 injured, according to Libya’s Tripoli-based Health Ministry.

Since the violence began on August 26, 96 people have been killed -- and more than 300 others injured -- in sporadic fighting in southeastern Tripoli between militias affiliated with Libya’s UN-backed unity government.

The violence first erupted after Libya’s Seventh Infantry Brigade (affiliated with the Defense Ministry) accused the Tripoli Revolutionary Brigade (affiliated with the Interior Ministry) of attacking its positions on the city’s southern outskirts.

On Sept. 4, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) declared a ceasefire after dozens had reportedly been killed in the capital.

Six days later, however, fighting resumed following an armed attack on the headquarters of Libya’s National Oil Corporation.

Libya has remained dogged by turmoil since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of long-serving President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily armed militia groups.