Armed groups in the Libyan towns of Sabrata and Zauiya, at loggerheads for weeks in the oil-rich northwest of the country, have reached a ceasefire after violent skirmishes that left at least two dead last Friday.
The mayor of Sabrata, Mohamed al Hasluk, has explained that the notables of both localities have pledged to avoid such acts of violence in the future, according to statements reported by the portal ‘The Libya Observer’.
According to local sources, Friday’s clashes began when Zawaiiya militias staged a raid to arrest a senior member of Sabrata’s armed groups, identified as Ahmed Danbashi.
Although the clashes did not fully break out, some families eventually left the area for safety, according to the Libyan portal, with the help of the Red Crescent.
The activity of the numerous militias operating in Libya — and particularly in the northwest, where many oil fields are located — has multiplied since March.
That month, the country unofficially re-entered into a state of administrative bicephaly with the declaration of Fazi Bashaga as «prime minister» by the parliament in the east of the country, against his great rival, the head of the unity government based in Tripoli, Abdul Hamid Dbeibé, whom he considers to be a delegitimized president.
Libya’s transitional government was mandated to take the country to elections last December, but they never took place due to divisions over the rules and the presence of controversial candidates, culminating in the controversial appointment of Bashaga.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
