UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th June, 2020) Almost 24,000 Libyans have been forced to leave their homes in southern Tripoli, Tarhuna and Sirte, after forces loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) launched the Operation Path of Victory last week, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing on Friday.
"Nearly 24,000 people have fled their homes in the last week following increased insecurity in southern Tripoli, Tarhuna and Sirte," Dujarric said. "Most people have fled to Eastern Libya."
The United Nations urges all parties to the Libyan conflict to protect civilians trapped in the conflict and direct their efforts to de-escalate tensions, the spokesman added.
On Saturday, GNA forces launched an offensive to take control over the city of Sirte, located between Tripoli and Benghazi, and surrounding areas from the rival Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
After the ouster and assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country was plunged into a civil war. Today, Libya is divided between two centers of power - an elected parliament in the country's east, supported by the LNA and the UN-backed GNA in the west.
