Libya

TRIPOLI, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it fears that a boat packed with migrants sunk off the Libyan coast with more than a hundred people dead.

“We have every reason to fear the worst – that over 100 lives were lost and nobody will ever know for sure,” MSF said in a statement on Twitter.

The Libyan coast guard was not immediately available for comment.

Libya is a hub for migrants and refugees, many of whom try to reach Europe in unseaworthy boats.

TRIPOLI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Libya's east-based army on Sunday launched 13 airstrikes around the Misurata air base belonging to the UN-backed government.

A total of "13 airstrikes by our air force destroyed an ongoing project of a Turkish base around the Misurata air college," the east-based army's information office said in a statement.

The statement, however, did not reveal details about possible human casualties.

Social media showed footage of rockets falling near Misurata air base.

TRIPOLI, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Thursday denounced increasing attacks on civilian airports in western Libya.

"The UNSMIL deplores the ever-increasing and systemic attacks on airports in western Libya, including Zuwara and Mitiga. These attacks have endangered the lives of thousands of civilian travelers, including UN staff and humanitarian workers," the mission said in a statement.

TRIPOLI, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Wednesday revealed the intention to turn the humanitarian truce between the UN-backed government and the rival east-based army into a permanent cease-fire.

"After the UNSMIL called upon the parties on Aug. 8 to express their commitment to a humanitarian truce on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the mission welcomes the positive response by the parties and the palpable reduction of violence in the Tripoli area," the mission said in a statement.

BENGHAZI, Libya, Aug 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Rival Libyan forces on Saturday said they had agreed to a temporary truce proposed by the United Nations during the upcoming Muslim Eid al-Adha.

Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), agreed to the UN-proposed truce on Saturday, according to LNA official Ahmed al-Mesmari.

Khalifa’s forces had been fighting to capture the capital Tripoli from a rival government backed by the UN, leaving thousands of people displaced on the outskirts of Tripoli.

BENGHZI, Libya (AP) — A bomb-laden vehicle exploded Saturday outside a shopping mall in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi, killing at least three U.N. staff members, a spokesman for the United Nations secretary-general said. The attack came even as the country’s warring sides said they accepted a cease-fire proposed by the U.N. aimed at halting combat in the capital Tripoli during an upcoming Muslim holiday.

TRIPOLI, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Monday expressed concern over continued violence and airstrikes in the country's southern city of Murzuq.

"The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is extremely concerned by reports on the continuation of acts of violence in Murzuq, including of a number of airstrikes last night which resulted in many deaths and injuries amongst civilians," the mission said in a statement.

TRIPOLI, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Ministry of Transport of the UN-backed Libyan government on Tuesday denied the remarks of UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame about the military use of M'etiga international airport in the capital Tripoli.

"Ministry of Transport is surprised about the remarks of the UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame during a UN Security Council session regarding the use of the Government of National Accord to M'etiga international airport for military purposes," the ministry said in a statement.

TRIPOLI, July 29 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame on Sunday warned against escalation of fighting here in the Libyan capital, which is witnessing a deadly armed conflict between the east-based rebel army and the UN-backed government in Tripoli.

Salame made his remarks during a meeting with the rebel army commander General Khalifa Haftar in the eastern city of Rajma.

"They discussed latest developments in Libya and ways to return to a state of peace and dialogue," the UN Support Mission in Libya said.

TRIPOLI, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A field hospital here was shelled on Saturday, in which five medical workers were killed and eight others injured, as the armed conflict between the UN-backed government forces and the east-based army continues.

"The Ministry of Health condemns in the strongest terms the shelling of a field hospital by a military aircraft in Tripoli airport road (in southern Tripoli), which killed five medical personnel and injured eight others," the ministry said later Saturday in a statement.