Libya Crisis

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The country has been unstable since Gaddafi was taken out...

Rebel army on the doorstep of Tripoli: Libya is on brink of civil war as anti-government troops surround capital and 'gun battles' break out in suburbs

Libya's rebel army commander Khalifa Hifter has reportedly surrounded the capital of Tripoli after spurning the UN's desperate calls for peace as the Secretary General spoke of 'deep concern.' Reports on Saturday morning said Hifter's forces had boots on the ground in the suburbs of the capital as he sent out a recording online, saying: 'We are coming Tripoli, we are coming.' Tripoli is currently held by the U.N.-backed Presidential Council and Government of National Accord and supporting militias.



Violence has erupted in northwestern Libya as the rebel army commander Khalifa Hifter ordered his troops to march on Tripoli.

The U.N. Secretary General Antonio Gutteres was left dismayed on Friday night as Hifter rejected his calls for peace and surrounded the capital of the oil-rich north African state.

On Saturday morning exchanges of fire were reported on roads south of the coastal city as the self-styled Libyan National Army pushed north into the suburbs.

Hifter's army - based in the east - had pushed westward to circle the territory controlled by U.N.-backed Presidential Council and Government of National Accord (GNA) and supporting militias.

A well-informed U.N. diplomat said late Friday that Hifter's forces were reported to be on the outskirts of Tripoli, around 20 miles out, with gunfire close to Tripoli International Airport.

On Saturday the rebel army were said to have made their way into the suburbs just 10 miles from city centre, according to Sky News Arabia.

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Fighting near Tripoli leaves 21 dead

Libya's UN-backed government says 21 people have been killed and 27 wounded in fighting near the capital, Tripoli.

Earlier the UN called for a two-hour truce so casualties and civilians could be evacuated, but it was unclear if there was any lull. Rebel forces under Gen Khalifa Haftar have advanced from the east with the aim of taking Tripoli. Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj has accused him of attempting a coup and says rebels will be met with force. Among the dead was a Red Crescent doctor killed on Saturday. Gen Haftar's forces said they had lost 14 fighters. International powers have begun evacuating personnel from Libya amid the worsening security situation.

Libya has been torn by violence and political instability since long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011.

Gen Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) forces have been carrying out a multi-pronged attack from the south and west of the city since Thursday. On Sunday the LNA said it had carried out its first air strike, a day after the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) hit them with air strikes on Saturday.

Fighting has continued around the disused international airport south of the capital that Gen Haftar earlier said his forces had seized. Forces loyal to the GNA have slowed the advance and on Sunday a GNA spokesman told Al-Jazeera TV that the GNA now intended to "cleanse" the whole of the country.