Libya's internationally recognised government Wednesday announced a ceasefire deal between rival militias after a month of clashes that have left more than 100 dead south of Tripoli, the focus of armed groups vying for power since the 2011 fall of Moamer Kadhafi.

The Government of National Accord (GNA) welcomed "the return of calm" after the battle which left at least 117 dead and more than 400 injured since it broke out in the capital's southern suburbs on August 27, according to official figures, and displaced over 25,000 people.

The ceasefire, which already came into effect on Tuesday, allowed the reopening of the capital's only working airport, at a former military base in Mitiga on the capital's eastern outskirts, that had closed several times because of the clashes.

It also allowed many families to return to their homes, although others were delayed by heavy rains on Wednesday that closed off several roads.

The agreement was signed by representatives of the capital and the town of Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli, the interior ministry said.

The deal ratified by interior minister Abdessalem Ashour calls for the rivals to implement a UN-brokered accord, signed on September 4, to form a joint security force of police from Tripoli and Tarhuna to patrol the capital's southern suburbs.

That accord held for only a few days and political analysts said the new deal could suffer the same fate.

"The problem with the notion of a ceasefire is that, in and of itself, it implies it's only a temporary solution," said Libyan researcher Emadi Badi.

He said the GNA had no real authority over armed groups.

"A successful negotiation would involve terms viewed as win-win where some parties compromise. It does not appear to be the case this time," said Badi.

The capital has been at the centre of a battle for influence between armed groups ever since dictator Kadhafi was ousted and killed in a NATO-backed uprising seven years ago.

The latest feud pitted armed groups from Tarhuna and Libya's third city Misrata against militia forces from Tripoli under the nominal control of the GNA. Forces from Misrata were driven out of the city on Monday night.

Dozens of militiamen were posted at crossroads in the southern suburbs on Wednesday, manning pickup trucks loaded with anti-aircraft guns.

Under the ceasefire deal, militias and their heavy weapons are to be withdrawn from the capital.

The unity government has struggled to exert its control in the face of a multitude of militias and a rival administration based in eastern Libya.

At the United Nations on Monday, France called for stronger UN sanctions on Libyans who stand in the way of a political solution in the conflict-ridden country.

The current situation "forces us to show greater firmness toward those who want to insist on the status quo for their sole benefit," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters in New York.

Sanctions should target "militia members who threaten Tripoli", he said.

Le Drian, whose government has been pushing a peace plan that includes elections by the end of the year, also called for stricter control of the cash flow from sales of Libyan oil to prevent funding of hostile groups. </s> Libya's internationally recognised government Wednesday announced a new ceasefire deal to end a month of fighting between rival militias south of Tripoli that has left more than 100 dead.

The agreement was signed by representatives of the capital and the town of Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The deal ratified by interior minister Abdessalem Ashour calls for the rivals to implement a UN-brokered accord, signed on September 4, to form a joint security force of police from Tripoli and Tarhuna to patrol the capital's southern suburbs.

The Government of National Accord (GNA), in a statement, welcomed the halt to fighting that already took effect on Tuesday.

The clashes which erupted on the capital's southern outskirts on August 26 have left at least 117 dead and more than 400 injured, according to a fresh casualty toll issued by the GNA.

More than 25,000 people have been displaced by the violence.

The Libyan capital has been at the centre of a battle for influence between armed groups ever since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was ousted and killed in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

The latest feud has pitted armed groups from Tarhuna and Libya's third city Misrata against militia forces from Tripoli under the nominal control of the GNA. </s> TRIPOLI: Rival militias clashed in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Wednesday and at least two people were killed, medics said, splintering a four-month-old, U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

Armoured vehicles could be seen in southern Tripoli where militia groups had fought for a month until September, part of the widespread factional conflict plaguing Libya since the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

A United Nations-engineered ceasefire agreed then had managed to hold for the most part until now.

But on Wednesday a militia known as the 7th Brigade, or Kaniyat, and a collection of factions called Tripoli Protection Force fell back into fighting in the same southern district.

"The clashes resulted in two killed and 17 wounded from both civilians and fighters," Tripoli health department official Malik Marsit said. Some casualties had not yet been accounted for due to lack of safe access to the area, he added.

The 7th Brigade and some allied groups triggered the August fighting in a bid to challenge the dominance of four "super militias", including the Tripoli Protection Force, in the streets of the capital.

The U.N. mission in Libya warned in a statement against any breach of the ceasefire deal. "Any party initiating a confrontation will be held fully responsible," it said.

The internationally-recognised government in Tripoli, backed by the United Nations, has been working on a new security plan since the ceasefire deal but achieved little as Libya, long a major oil producer, lacks a national police force or army. </s> Libya’s internationally recognized government on Wednesday announced a new ceasefire deal. It could end a month of fighting between rival militias south of Tripoli that has left more than 100 dead, AFP reports. The deal was signed by representatives of the capital and the town of Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli, the Interior Ministry said. The agreement ratified by Interior Minister Abdessalem Ashour calls for the rivals to implement a UN-brokered accord, signed on September 4. It envisages the formation of a joint security force of police from Tripoli and Tarhuna to patrol the capital’s southern suburbs. </s> Two days of clashes between rival militias near Libya's capital Tripoli have left 10 people dead and 41 wounded, the health ministry said Thursday.

Fighting between armed groups erupted Wednesday despite a truce deal four months ago that had halted deadly battles in the city.

A medical source told AFP that fierce clashes hit an area some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Tripoli on Thursday, after fighting around an airport 25 kilometres from the capital the previous day.

The violence has pitted the Tripoli Protection Force, an alliance of militias from the city, against the Seventh Brigade group from the town of Tarhuna.

The health ministry said that there were women and children among the wounded.

Tripoli was plagued by militia clashes that killed at least 117 people and wounded more than 400 between late August and late September.

The United Nations mission in Libya on Wednesday condemned a "military mobilisation" in southern Tripoli and warned groups not to break a ceasefire agreement it brokered in September.

The Seventh Brigade has maintained its positions around Tripoli since the accord was reached, a move that has angered rival militias.

Libya has been torn between rival administrations and a myriad of militias since the overthrow and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

The main armed groups in Tripoli say they are loyal to the internationally backed Government of National Accord (GNA), but officials have struggled to exert real control over the fighters.

The GNA announced security reforms in the wake of the bloodshed last year, aimed at curbing the power of militias in the capital.

A rival administration in the east of Libya is backed by strongman Khalifa Haftar and his self-proclaimed Libyan National Army.

The UN is pushing for elections to help stabilise Libya, but chronic violence has delayed plans for the vote. </s> Libyan militiamen loyal to the Government of National Accord, Libya’s internationally recognised government, celebrate their advances in the field in the south of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on Tuesday (AFP photo)

TRIPOLI — The only functioning airport in the Libyan capital Tripoli will reopen its airspace on Wednesday afternoon after clashes between rival militias forced it to close two weeks ago, the airport administration said.

Mitiga Airport was shut after rockets were fired in its direction. Flights were diverted to Misrata Airport about 190km east of Tripoli.

“The carriers are expected to resume flights by the beginning of next week” the administration said.

The facility, a former US military base, closed twice this month due to indiscriminate shelling but no severe damages were reported.

At least 115 people were killed and more than 380 wounded in the fighting that pitted the Seventh Brigade, or Kaniyat, from Tarhouna, a town 65km southeast of Tripoli, against the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigades and the Nawasi, two of the capital’s largest armed groups.

Tripoli and western Libya are run by a UN-backed government mainly supported by armed groups, while eastern Libya is controlled by a rival administration. The country has been in spiralling into violent chaos since Muammar Qadhafi was toppled in 2011. </s> TRIPOLI - The army behind Libya’s UN-backed government has announced a counteroffensive to defend Tripoli, vowing to reclaim all areas seized by forces loyal to renegade General Khalifa Haftar, who have been marching on the outskirts of the capital.

Colonel Mohamed Gnounou told reporters in Tripoli on Sunday that the counteroffensive, dubbed “Volcano of Anger”, was aimed at “purging all Libyan cities of aggressor and illegitimate forces”.

The announcement came as Haftar’s forces said they conducted the first air raid on a Tripoli suburb as part of their aim oust the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and control Tripoli. The alleged strike came after GNA forces launched air raids on Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) around 50km south of Tripoli on Saturday, reportedly killing one person.

Meanwhile, the UN mission in Libya (UNSMIL) made an “urgent appeal” for a two-hour truce in the southern suburbs to evacuate the wounded and civilians caught in the fighting.

“[UNSMIL calls on] all armed parties in the Wadi Rabi area, Al-Kayekh, Gasr Ben Ghachir and Al-Aziziya to respect a humanitarian truce (between 14:00 and 16:00 GMT) to secure the evacuation of wounded and civilians by rescue teams and the Libyan Red Crescent”.

Fearing that large-scale fighting could break out, the city’s resident have begun stocking up on food and fuel. At least 35 people, including civilians, have been killed on both sides since Haftar launched his offensive four days ago.

The health ministry of the Tripoli-based government said in a statement that at least 21 people were killed, including a doctor, and 27 others were wounded. Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for Haftar’s forces, said Saturday that 14 troops were killed.

The internationally recognised GNA controls Tripoli, situated in northwestern Libya, while the LNA is allied to a parallel administration based in the east of the oil-rich country, which splintered into a patchwork of competing power bases following the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. On Sunday, the US military said it had temporarily pulled some of its forces out of Libya amid the upsurge of fighting in the North African country. “Due to increased unrest in Libya, a contingent of US forces supporting US Africa Command temporarily relocated from the country in response to security conditions on the ground,” it said in a statement. It did not detail how many military personnel had been withdrawn from Libya.

US Africa Command, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, said its mission in Libya involves “military support to diplomatic missions, counterterrorism activities, enhancing partnerships and improving security across the region”.

It said it would “continue to monitor conditions on the ground in Libya and assess the feasibility for renewed US military presence as appropriate”. “The security realities on the ground in Libya are growing increasingly complex and unpredictable,” said US Marine Corps General Thomas Waldhauser, commander of US Africa Command.

“Even with an adjustment of the force, we will continue to remain agile in support of existing US strategy.” On Saturday, the head of the GNA accused Haftar of “betraying” him after the latter launched his military offensive on Tripoli. In a televised speech, Fayez al-Sarraj said Haftar’s forces would meet firm resistance from forces loyal to the GNA.

“We have extended our hands towards peace but after the aggression that has taken place on the part of forces belonging to Haftar and his declaration of war against our cities and our capital ... he will find nothing but strength and firmness,” al-Sarraj said. He also warned of “a war without winners”. </s> The Libyan National Army (LNA) repelled the offensive of the forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA) on Tripoli airport, the LNA General Command press service director Khalifa Obeidi said on Monday.

"LNA repelled an armed attack by [GNA armed] groups… on Tripoli airport on Sunday morning," he said.

Obeidi noted that 15 GNA militants, including six mercenaries from Chad, were killed in the clash.

In April, Khalifa Haftar, the head of the LNA, launched an offensive to retake Tripoli from control of the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). The LNA has already recaptured a number of settlements near the capital and the Tripoli International Airport, located around 20 miles away from the city. The forces loyal to the GNA announced a counteroffensive, dubbed Volcano of Rage.

Since the overthrow and killing of Libya's long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been gripped by conflict. Libya is now divided between two governments, with the eastern part controlled by the LNA, and the western part governed by the UN-backed GNA. </s> TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A ceasefire has been signed between armed factions fighting over the Libyan capital, the United Nations said on Tuesday, after more than a week of violence inside Tripoli.

Dozens of people have been killed in fighting engulfing Tripoli as rival armed groups vie for power and money in the chaos persisting in the oil producer since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

“A ceasefire agreement was reached + signed today to end all hostilities, protect civilians, safeguard public and private property,” the U.N. mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said in a statement.

Tripoli’s only functioning airport, Matiga, would also be reopened after being closed since Friday, the United Nations said, without giving any details beyond the text of the agreement.

Commanders of some factions could be seen on pictures published by UNSMIL, while others seemed to have been absent.

It was not clear how the ceasefire would be implemented as militias have ignored previous calls to lay down arms by the U.N.-backed government which is largely powerless.

One armed faction, the 7th brigade from Tarhouna town south of the capital, which had attacked Tripoli with other factions, accepted the ceasefire, spokesman Saad al-Hammali said,

Last week, local officials brokered a ceasefire that did not hold.

There is no police or army or functioning state to enforce peace in a country ruled by armed groups who defy authority and form flexible alliances.

Tripoli is formally controlled by the internationally recognised Government of National Accord, but armed groups working with it act with autonomy. Eastern Libya is controlled by a rival administration.

“Today does not aim to fix all the Libyan capital’s security problems; it seeks to agree on a broader framework on the way to start addressing the issues,” UNSMIL quoted U.N. Special Envoy Ghassan Salame as saying.

The fighting had started because armed groups outside Tripoli had opposed a cartel of four “super militias” controlling access to state funds and foreign currency at huge discount from the central bank.

In a sign of the chaos, hundreds African migrants escaped from a detention centre caught in the middle of a shootout, an aid official said.

A video posted on social media purported to show hundreds of Africans, some carrying plastic bags, walking in a long line away from the detention centre.

As many as 1,900 migrants had been in the detention centre but some were brought by authorities to another facility, a U.N. official said.

Some ended up on a farm. “Five people got shot (there), one got shot when we came here,” said Omar Abdullah, a migrant from Eritrea. “We didn’t have a shower for three, four days.”

Libya is a major departure point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, mainly from other parts of Africa.

Most migrants had been jailed after the Libyan coastguard intercepted their makeshift boats bound for Italy.

Some 400 prisoners also escaped on Sunday from a jail in southern Tripoli.

More than 1,800 families have been displaced from their homes since the start of the fighting, a report by the Tripoli-based ministry for displaced people said.
Militias loyal to the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord launch a counterattack on Libyan National Army troops in the southern outskirts of Tripoli.