Suffering grows from Libya conflict, jihadists exploit vacuum

REUTERS, 09th APRIL, 2019 - Casualties from the battle for Libya’s capital mounted on Tuesday while Islamic State killed three people in a desert town, illustrating how jihadists may exploit renewed chaos. Medical facilities reported 47 people killed and 181 wounded in recent days as eastern forces seek to take Tripoli from an internationally-recognized government, the World Health Organisation said.

That was a higher figure than numbers given by either side, and appeared to be made up mainly of fighters, although it also comprised nine civilians including two doctors, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in Geneva. The eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) forces of Khalifa Haftar - a former general in ousted strongman Muammar Gaddafi’s army - seized the sparsely populated but oil-rich south earlier this year before heading toward Tripoli this month.