Calm has returned to Tripoli, the capital of Libya on Sunday, a day after violent clashes erupted between armed groups that killed 32 and 159 persons wounded, official sources said.
In the tragic mayhem, motorists, and shop owners are yet, counting their losses while streets in the metropolis are, hitherto littered with debris from burned tyres and vehicles.
It would be recalled that heavy gunfire and artillery shelling were heard on Friday and Saturday night before dusk in various parts of the capital as rival militias loyal to Libya’s two opposing governments clashed near the centre of the capital.
However, supporters of eastern-based Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha have taken control of parts of Tripoli, while forces loyal to outgoing Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah are still holding on to large chunks of the city.
Clouds of smoke floated over the Libyan capital, Tripoli, Saturday afternoon as militias loyal to the country’s two rival governments exchanged gunfire in the centre of the city.
Eyewitness accounts said the situation has raised fears of a wider conflict in Libya over the political standoff between Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli and Fathi Bashagha, who seeks to install a new government in the capital.
But airline companies said early on Sunday that flights were operating normally at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport, a sign that the security situation had eased for now, according to Libyan media.
Also, United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate end to the violence and for genuine dialogue to resolve Libya’s political impasse.
Libya’s overarching political standoff over control of government still appears largely unchanged by Bashagha’s attempt on Saturday to take over in Tripoli.
At the time of filing this report, there was no sign of any move towards a compromise between the main camps or new diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute over the control of the government.
