...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has stated that the escalation of fighting in Derna - eastern Libya - has reached unprecedented levels due to the use of
s and artillery shelling."Some of the attacks have been targeting residential areas, besides heavy ground festivities." OHCA added in a report on Thursday.
"The humanitarian situation is worsening as severe water, food and medicine shortages continue to exacerbate. Electricity and water are completely cut off for the approximately 125,000 residents." The report reads.
The report also remarked that at least five civilians have died since May 22, including two children, and 11 have been injured, including four children, as a result of the increased hostilities.
"The humanitarian community calls on all parties to respect international humanitarian law and minimise civilian casualties." The report calls, saying all parties need to ensure civilians’ freedom of movement and facilitate the safe exit of those civilians wishing to leave Derna.
It added that there is an urging need for an immediate safe and unrestricted access to Derna for humanitarian actors and humanitarian goods needs to be granted.
The self-styled army forces of 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...have been for weeks toughening the siege along with the bombing and shelling on Derna in an attempt to push forward and enter the city.
Caught up in the middle, Derna civilian population has been deprived of so many basic needs such as cooking gas, fuel and oxygen for hospitals and foods as well as medicines. due to the encirclement of Haftar's forces, which has been ongoing for over two years.