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Africa North
At least 264 dead in battle for Libya capital: WHO
2019-04-24
[AlAhram] At least 264 people have been killed and 1,266 maimed, including civilians, in an offensive by military strongman Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
to seize Libya's capital Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

The UN agency called on Twitter for "a temporary cessation of hostilities" between Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) and forces loyal to the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

It urged "all parties to respect international humanitarian law".

Fighting since April 4 in the southern suburbs of Tripoli has displaced 35,000, UN humanitarian coordinator for Libya Maria do Valle Ribeiro said on Monday.
Posted by:trailing wife

#3  Needs to revert to a province of Rome.
Posted by: AlanC   2019-04-24 16:29  

#2  Libya is a massive country with a teensy population (~6m). Without Uncle Sam in the picture, I expect it would rapidly become a province of Egypt. Or Algeria.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2019-04-24 16:14  

#1  264 going on three weeks. This is what desultory fighting looks like. In this time interval, Mexicans, with an assist from drug cartels, have quite literally piled up a body count 6x as high.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2019-04-24 16:12  

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