Libya’s bloody battle fueled by Italian effort to stop migrants

A bloody ballet has ensued in stop migrants heading to Europe intercepted a group of human traffickers offshore. That confrontation has spiraled into a weeks-long battle among rival militias for control of a Libyan coastal city that has left dozens dead.

Agency report said that the bloodshed in the city of Sabratha is in part an unexpected consequence of Europe’s effort to stem the flow of migrants from Libya across the Mediterranean.

The Sabratha fight has expanded, bringing in outside factions, including Khalifa Hifter, the strongman who controls eastern Libya and is a rival of the weak, internationally recognized government based in Tripoli, headed by Fayez Serraj.

Hifter appears to be using the conflict to obtain a foothold in the western part of the country.

Thousands of families have fled Sabratha, according to the Red Crescent and local officials. Fighting has endangered the city’s dramatic antiquity site – the remains of a 1,800-year-old Roman city.

At one point, a militia besieged opposing fighters holed up inside the ruins, with snipers positioned on top of the monuments. Photos on line showed bullet holes in one monument.

“This is a war that started between human traffickers, then snowballed into an ideological and political one,” said al-Tahar al-Gharabili, head of the Sabratha Military Council, which answers to Serraj’s government.

Stewart expressed concern about the deaths and injuries in the two Anglophone regions caused by repression of protesters by the security services.

Ahead of the October 1 celebration of the unification of the Anglophone regions with the French Cameroun, the government deployed the military to the South West and North West regions to quell planned proclamation of independence by secessionist groups in the regions.

Gatherings were banned, internet and social media were blocked and public places were closed down.

Amnesty International said 17 people were killed during the repression on the said date while over 200 were arrested.

Internet connection was restored on Tuesday but the blockade on social media was maintained.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the violence and called for dialogue.