Warring factions in the Libyan capital Tripoli have agreed to halt armed clashes and pave way for reconciliation attempts following a violation of a ceasefire deal, a semi-official committee announced on Thursday.
Ramadan Zarmouh, the head of the committee tasked with implementing security measures adopted by the Government of National Accord and the UN mission in Libya, said that the bickering militias resumed fighting in Tripoli on Wednesday. But they agreed to a ceasefire a day later.
The latest flareup of violence was the latest violation of a ceasefire that the GNA of Fayez al-Sarraj is seeking to impose in Tripoli since the heavy clashes it witnessed in September.
Following the announced ceasefire on Thursday, there was relative calm in the capital. Businesses and schools opened as usual and state institutions functioned normally.
“Schools are open to welcome their students while the city’s banks are trying to regulate their work,” the GNA-loyal news agency quoted Sarraj as saying.
Meanwhile, Libyan National Army spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said that the LNA has received intelligence reports that extremists would be moved from Syria to Libya via Sudan.
During a press conference he held in the eastern city of Benghazi, Mismari warned of a possible infiltration of terrorists.
There are more than 18,000 terrorists, including Libyans, in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, the spokesman said. “If the Syrian army continues to tighten the noose around them, they will be taken out of (the war-torn country) to Sudan and from there to Libya and other African states.”
He also told reporters that for the first time several extremists have been taken to trial at a military court.
