Fourth of April marked one year since forces of the Libyan National Army Commander under General Khalifa Hafter launched an offensive to wrest control of the capital Tripoli from troops loyal to the internationally backed government.
By S. Abdussalm
Since then the fighting has puttered to a stalemate.
The invasion shattered the hopes of many Libyans for a peaceful political transition via a national conference that could have paved the way towards unifying the country’s long divided institutions by way of parliamentary and presidential elections.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya ( UNSMIL) on Saturday said that the humanitarian situation has deteriorated to levels never previously witnessed in Libya.
Between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 UNSMIL documented at least 683 civilian causalities (356 death and 329 injured).
Around 149,000 people in and around Tripoli have been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of the offensive and nearly 345,000 civilians remain in the front line with an additional 749,000 people estimated to live in areas affected by the clashes.
The war has also left extensive damage to homes, hospitals, schools, utility facilities and general infrastructure.
Human rights violations have exponentially increased with attacks against human rights defenders and journalists, doctors, lawyers and judges, migrants and refugees.
Over the past year. UNSMIL has received hundreds of cases arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, extrajudicial executions by armed groups in towns and cities across Libya.
UNSMIL said it is appealing to all side to the conflict to activate the humanitarian truce immediately and cease all military operations to allow Libya to respond to the threat from the coronavirus.
The number of confirmed cases of the disease in the country has risen from 11 to 17.
SS/as/APA