Conflict in the eastern Libyan city of Derna is at the forefront again, as the humanitarian coordinator for the United Nations appealed Friday for humanitarian aid access in its hard-hit old city center. “I am deeply concerned by the escalation of hostilities in the eastern city of Derna,” said Maria…
Libya’s Fayez Al-Sarraj, head of the Presidential Council for the Government of National Accord (GNA), met Wednesday with security officials and his interior minister to discuss Tuesday’s attack on the foreign ministry building in Tripoli. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed at least three people…
Migrants and refugees are being subjected to “unimaginable horrors” from the moment they enter Libya, and at every stage of their journey as they seek to cross the Mediterranean Sea, according to a report released Thursday by UNSMIL, the UN Support Mission in Libya. The 61-page report is based on…
A strong earthquake struck the Ionian islands of western Greece early Friday, with people in at least eight countries saying they felt the shaking across southern Europe and North Africa. The United States Geological Survey said the 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit just before 2 a.m. local time, about 33 kilometers from…
More than 1,700 people have died this year on the Mediterranean Sea migration route to Europe, and both UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and IOM, the UN Migration Agency, appealed jointly to European governments on Wednesday to change their “dangerously toxic” discourse on migration. “The current tenor of the political debate…
Three North African nations saw extreme rains and deadly flooding earlier this week, with Nabeul and Jemmel in Tunisia among the hardest hit, and torrential rains turning Tripoli’s streets into rivers. Algeria also was affected, but now the storm system is taking aim at southern Europe as a so-called “medicane.”…
Khalifa Haftar, head of the Libyan National Army, has in recent days threatened to move on Tripoli, retaliate against Algeria over allegations its military is crossing into Libyan territory, and called Italy an enemy of the Libyan people. “Tripoli must be liberated and will not remain in spoiled hands,” Haftar…
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says human traffickers and smugglers in Libya are impersonating their humanitarian aid staff, wearing UNHCR vests and other items to deceive migrants. Citing reliable reports from their sources and refugees, UNHCR said the practice pops up at smuggling hubs and disembarkation points where migrant…
Authorities closed a bridge last fall in northern Libya after an inspection found potential fractures in the structure – one that’s identical to the bridge that collapsed Tuesday in Genoa, Italy, and designed by the same civil engineer. The Wadi el Kuf bridge, completed in 1972 by Riccardo Morandi, is…
Nearly 2,000 people living in Tripoli in an internally displaced persons (IDP) settlement have been forcibly evicted by armed militias, the United Nations Refugee Agency said Tuesday. Triq Al Matar was the largest IDP settlement in Tripoli, hosting families originally from the city of Tawergha who have lived there since…
The 141 migrants aboard the rescue ship Aquarius are headed for Malta, after days of yet another standoff on the Mediterranean Sea as three countries refused to allow the ship port access. Malta originally refused to accept the ship, as did Spain, which previously allowed its passengers to disembark during…
General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) has recaptured Derna, the last bastion of Islamist forces in the country’s east. The victory is not only an important strategic breakthrough in Haftar’s four-year-long campaign to rid Libya of extremist militias, but also carries important symbolic value: Derna, after all, was the…
I am a London-based researcher specialized in security issues and environmental protection. He is currently writing a book about the role lobbying plays in keeping African leaders in power.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a controversial travel ban affecting citizens of Libya and Somalia hoping to enter the U.S. will stand, despite legal challenges dating to the first days of President Donald Trump’s administration. The 5-4 ruling keeps in place a reworked version of the ban…
Migrants aboard a Mediterranean Sea rescue ship denied entry to Italian ports set sail for Spain at 9 p.m. local time Tuesday night, according to the Sos Méditerranée NGO that operates the ship in collaboration with Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Their departure alongside two Italian military vessels ended a two-day…
Aid workers on the Mediterranean Sea, with more than 600 migrants from Libya aboard the rescue ship Aquarius, continued to search for a solution after Italy refused to accept the ship in one of its ports. The ship, operated by Sos Méditerranée with a medical crew from Doctors Without Borders…