Libyan civilians have been subject to targeted killings, forced displacement and acute humanitarian conditions amid an escalation in fighting in the North African country, a new United Nations human rights report has warned.
According to the report, released today and jointly produced by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), civilians caught in the fighting have been subjected to indiscriminate shelling, abduction, torture and execution as well as deliberate destruction of property as factional violence ripples across the country.
In western Libya, in the area of Warshafana, fighting between rival armed groups has resulted in the deaths of an estimated 100 people and injured 500 more in a spell of hostilities that lasted from late August to early October.
At the same time, the report notes, fighting in the neighbouring Nafusa mountains left 170 people dead. In addition to the casualties, the fighting has also caused a humanitarian crisis with at least 120,000 people forced to flee their homes, resulting in consequent shortages in both food and medical supplies.
Meanwhile, in the eastern city of Benghazi, an uptick in violence has seen 450 people killed since October as residents continue to face shortages in medical care. Moreover, upwards of 15,000 families – some 90,000 people – have been displaced, according to reports received by UNSMIL…
read more in the un.org