El-Sisi meets Haftar, while 121 people are killed in battles on Tripoli April 15, 2019 at 4:46 am | Published in: Africa , Egypt , Libya , News This handout picture released by the Egyptian Presidency on April 14, 2019, shows Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) and intelligence chief Abbas Kamel (R) meeting Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar (L) at the Ittihadia presidential Palace in the capital Cairo. - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met Sunday with Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar whose forces are fighting for control of the capital Tripoli, state media reported. Sisi has been an ardent supporter of Haftar's forces, which control swathes of eastern Libya and launched an offensive on April 4 to take the capital. (Photo by - / Egyptian Presidency / AFP / Getty) April 15, 2019 at 4:46 am President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met, on Sunday, Khalifa Haftar, leader of the Libyan National Army, in Cairo, while the number of victims of the battles on the Libyan capital Tripoli has reached 121 dead people and hundreds of injured.
Egyptian Presidency Spokesperson Bassam Radi said that El-Sisi and Haftar had discussed developments in Libya, and no further immediate details have been available.
The Libyan National Army, led by Haftar, has been launching an attack to take control over the Libyan capital Tripoli, amid international calls to halt the attack.
Also, 121 people have been killed, and 561 others have been wounded since the start of the attack of Haftar’s forces on the Libyan capital on April 4, the World Health Organisation announced on Sunday.
On the other hand, the Head of the organization’s office in Libya condemned, on Twitter, the “recurrence of attacks on medical teams” and ambulances in Tripoli.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 13,500 people had been displaced, 900 of whom have been sent to shelters.
The United Nations Mission in Libya warned against the bombing of schools, hospitals, ambulances, and civilian areas, explaining that it is “strictly prohibited by International Humanitarian Law.”
Read: Presidency spokesman: Egypt’s Sisi meets Libyan commander Haftar in Cairo
The Mission further stated on Twitter that it “is monitoring and documenting all acts of war that violate this law (in Libya) to brief the Security Council and the International Criminal Court.”
UNSMIL warns that the bombing of schools, hospitals, ambulances & civilian areas is strictly prohibited by International Humanitarian Law. The mission is monitoring & documenting all acts of war that violate this law in order to brief the Security Council and the @IntlCrimCourt pic.twitter.com/Rdz1ASc5u0
— UNSMIL (@UNSMILibya) April 14, 2019
Violent battles have been taking place since 4 April in the southern suburb of Tripoli between forces affiliated to the internationally recognised Government of National Accord and the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a powerful man in the east of Libya.
The Libyan National Army, formed and led by Haftar, has launched an attack to take control over the capital located northwest of the country.
In addition to land battles, the two sides have been launching air strikes daily and have been reciprocally accusing each other of targeting civilians.
The move came before the holding of a dialogue conference, scheduled for the next Sunday and Tuesday, as part of an international road map to resolve the conflict in the oil-rich Arab country, which has later been postponed to an indefinite date.
Since 2011, Libya has been witnessing a conflict over legitimacy and power, which is currently concentrated between the internationally recognised Government of National Accord in Tripoli and Haftar’s forces affiliated to the House of Representatives in Tobruk.
Categories Africa Egypt Libya News
