Libyan interior minister of GNA announces ceasefire deal in Tripoli

Libyan security forces patrol on August 23, 2018 near the site of an attack on a checkpoint in the city of Zliten, 170 km east of the capital Tripoli. (File photo: AFP)
  • The agreement provides for the handover of the headquarters of the Seventh Brigade to the Tripoli Security Directorate
  • The agreement came in the wake of bloody clashes that left several dead and wounded

Libya’s Interior Minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Brigadier-General Abdel Salam Ashour, announced a ceasefire agreement with warring sides in the south-eastern suburb of Tripoli.

“The agreement provides for the handover of the headquarters of the Seventh Brigade to the Tripoli Security Directorate,” Ashour said in a brief statement quoted by a local channel on Monday night.

In his statement, the Interior Minister did not disclose any further details on the terms of the agreement.

The agreement came in the wake of bloody clashes that left several dead and wounded, promting international calls for calm in the Libyan capital.

The Health Ministry reported on Facebook that five have been registered as killed and 33 injured so far due to the clashes.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said on its website that it was following the clashes in and around Tripoli with “grave concern,” calling on all parties to immediately cease all military action.

The European Union also called for ceasefire and end of hostilities in Tripoli, while the Italian and British embassies in Libya condemned the violence.