Libya

16 July 2019; DW: Facing the risk of exploitation, violence and torture, aid groups warn Libya is not a safe country for refugees. They argue that is reason enough for the EU not to send asylum-seekers back to the country.

15 July 2019; MEMO: Troops loyal to Retired General Khalifa Haftar are preparing to launch a decisive attack on Tripoli to seize Tripoli from the forces of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

Haftar forces’ War Information Division, announced on Facebook, Saturday: “General Haftar is expected to deliver a speech announcing the launch of the latest operations to liberate Tripoli”, adding that: “the next hours will mark the victory of Haftar troops in God’s will.”

TRIPOLI, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Libyan coast guards on Saturday rescued 53 illegal immigrants off the coast of the city Sabratha, some 60 km west of the capital Tripoli.

"A coast guards patrol rescued 53 illegal immigrants on a rubber boat 40 miles off Sabratha coast," said a statement issued by the Libyan Coast and Ports Security Department.

The migrants, who are of different African nationalities, include 10 women and one child, the statement said.

9 July 2019; DW: The "Alan Kurdi" vessel operated by Sea-Eye rescued 44 migrants on Monday in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya.

Sea-Eye wrote on Twitter that the Maltese navy had aided the rescue attempt: "The Alan Kurdi has rescued 44 persons from a wooden boat in cooperation with Maltese authorities."

4 July 2019; DW: UN chief Antonio Guterres denounced the "horrendous" attack on a detention center in Tripoli and demanded an independent investigation. A divided Security Council failed to condemn the strike.

The council president said a statement was due: "We will have a press statement, but we are still discussing it," Peruvian Ambassador Gustavo Meza-Cuadra said.

3 July 2019; DW: Almost 40 people were killed and 70 more were wounded in an attack on a migrant detention center in a suburb of Libyan capital Tripoli late on Tuesday.

"This is a preliminary assessment and the toll could rise," emergency service spokesman Osama Ali told the AFP news agency.

The center in the eastern suburb of Tajoura housed around 120 people in a hangar.

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — An airstrike hit a detention center for migrants in the Libyan capital early Wednesday, killing at least 40 people, a health official in the country’s U.N.-supported government said.

The airstrike targeting the detention center in Tripoli’s Tajoura neighborhood also wounded 80 migrants, said Malek Merset, a Health Ministry spokesman. Merset posted photos of migrants being taken in ambulances to hospitals.

30 June 2019; MEMO: The threats by forces aligned with East Libya-based commander Khalifa Haftar toward Turkey is a “declaration of war” on Ankara, Libya’s High Council of State said yesterday, as reported on Anadolu Agency. 

The council in a statement described the threats as “a blow to relations with a country that cooperates with Libya in many areas and constitutes a large part of the country’s total imports”.

29 June 2019; MEMO: The Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) claims to have spotted French soldiers serving among the forces of General Khalifa Haftar.

Commander of the GNA’s First Infantry Brigade, Mustapha Al-Machai, claimed to have spotted six cars carrying French soldiers who had been stationed at Haftar’s operations room in the city of Gharyan, south of Libyan capital Tripoli.

TRIPOLI, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Libyan navy on Saturday announced rescuing 22 migrants of different African nationalities off the country's western coast.

The migrants were rescued some 55 km off the coast of Sabratha city, some 70 km west of the capital Tripoli, the navy said in a statement.

The rescued migrants have been provided with humanitarian and medical assistance and taken to a reception center in eastern Tripoli, the statement said.