At least 205 people have been killed and more than 900 wounded in the battle for control of the Libyan capital Tripoli, World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed via Twitter.
Toll for armed conflict in #Tripoli is 205 dead and 913 wounded. Medical specialists that WHO #Libya deployed to support frontline hospitals are helping perform dozens of surgeries. pic.twitter.com/94zXHzsQq1
— World Health Organization in Libya (@WHOLIBYA) April 17, 2019
WHO said it was keeping medical and surgical teams deployed at field hospitals near the front lines.
While speaking at a news conference at the UN headquarters, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric said Tripoli witnessed the heaviest fighting since the outbreak of the clashes with indiscriminate rocket fire on a high-density neighborhood in the Libyan capital.
“In the past 24 hours, we have also seen the highest single day increase in displacement with more than 4,500 displaced,” Dujarric added.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the total number of people that have been displaced due to the conflict is now around 25,000.
Dujarric confirmed that the UN Refugee Agency relocated more than 150 refugees from the Ain Zara detention centre in south Tripoli to UNHCR’s Gathering and Departure Facility to a nearby safe zone.
Fighting broke out on April 4 when military strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to take Tripoli, the seat of the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
