...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...
Sunday night killed four people and maimed 37, Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) said Monday, blaming the attacks on 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...'s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA).
This came a day after a similar attack on the capital killed another four civilians and injured 20, according to the GNA.
Haftar's LNA launched an offensive against Tripoli, the seat of the internationally-recognised GNA, on April 4.
After initial gains, Haftar's forces have encountered stiff resistance on the southern outskirts and his troops have been pushed back in some areas.
At least 278 people have been killed and more than 1,300 maimed in the festivities, according to a toll released Wednesday by the World Health Organization.
The GNA accuses Haftar of using foreign planes to carry out air strikes, without naming a country of origin.
After Sunday's raids, "public hospitals received four dead people -- three civilians and a soldier, and 37 maimed, Amin al-Hachemi, a front man for the GNA health ministry told AFP.
"The toll may rise given that victims have been transported to private hospitals."
The parts of Tripoli struck were Abou Slim, a densely-populated residential area in the south, and Ain Zara, a southern suburb that has seen several violent festivities in recent weeks.
A front man for the LNA confirmed Saturday's strikes on the capital, but said they were aimed at military targets.
"The capital is experiencing an escalation in the military offensive, war crimes, and indiscriminate bombings of residential areas, public facilities and infrastructure," Mohanad Younes, a front man for the GNA, said on the government's Facebook page.
"Unmanned foreign planes participated in these raids, the latest ones having hit homes in Ain Zara and Abou Slim," said Younes.
The responsibility for these acts, he added, rests "with the states which support the belligerent forces of the criminal Haftar".
Haftar's offensive has sharpened fault lines in policy towards Libya among world powers.
On April 18, Russia and the United States opposed a British bid backed by La Belle France and Germany at the UN Security Council to demand a ceasefire in the North African country.
The White House revealed the next day that Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
had reached out personally to Haftar in a phone call, during which the US president "recognised Field Marshal Haftar's significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya's oil resources".
The country has been mired in chaos since the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
-backed uprising that deposed and killed dictator Moamer Qadaffy in 2011.