Libya: Tripoli Clashes Situational Report No.16 (As of 23 April 2019) [EN/AR]

HIGHLIGHTS

• The UN and humanitarian partners are closely following up on corroborated reports received of 30 people being injured and hospitalised following violence in the Qasr Ben Ghashir detention center, where some 890 refugees and migrants are located.Efforts are underway for the urgent relocation of all individuals to safer areas.

• Vital humanitarian assistance, including urgently needed medical supplies, are reported to be held in warehouses pending customs and inspection procedures. Humanitarian partners maintain that especially at times when humanitarian needs are high, assistance needs to reach those in need without any delay owed to administrative procedures.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

• For the second night in a row, relative calm has prevailed, with the exception of airstrikes against military positions in Wadi Al Rabi and artillery/shelling reported overnight 22-23 April in the vicinity of Tripoli International Airport and Ain Zara. This is likely to be due to prevailing weather conditions.

• At least 90 civilian casualties, including 21 fatalities, have been verified since the beginning of the conflict.1 These casualties include medical personnel, women and children, and at least one foreign national.

• Approximately 35,000 displaced individuals have been identified since the onset of the crisis.2 The majority of IDPs are staying with family or in private accommodations, while over 2,200 IDPs are currently sheltered in 16 collective centres set up by local authorities. An unconfirmed number of families remain stranded in conflict-affected areas, since neither side has responded to calls for humanitarian pauses to enable their departure. This includes nearly 3,600 refugees and migrants trapped in detention centres (DCs) located in conflict- affected areas or in areas at risk of armed conflict. The humanitarian community continues to call on all parties to the conflict to negotiate humanitarian pauses to allow for civilians to move freely to safer areas and for assistance to reach those in need, and to nominate humanitarian focal points to facilitate these ends