Analysis: Deadly clashes in Libya's capital of Tripoli between armed forces supporting rival prime ministers have raised fears of a return to war. But why are they fighting, and what does the future hold?
that was the scene in libya s capital over the weekend. gun shots ringing out in the streets as rival militias trade fire. the country s health ministry says at least 32 people were killed in clashes in tripoli over the weekend. and the international rescue committee says it had to suspend some of its humanitarian services for migrants and refugees due to the violence. cnn joins me now from london with more on this. good morning to you, nadia, what is the latest on these battles between rival militias and the ramifications of this? reporter: appears to have returned to tripoli, at least for now. it does appear those rival militias have withdrawn from the central parts of the capital. it is the innocent civilians in tripoli who have been left to grapple with the devastation left in the wake of this latest
serious concerns because we have seen some semblance of peace in tripoli, at least for the last two years, as the country attempted to push forward with the u.n. brokered peace initiative. this has raised concerns that this will push the country back into a state of sustained violence and clashes between rival militias. we heard from the united nations yesterday calling on all parties to return to open political dialogue, but, of course, those clashes continue and there are real fears that this could indeed spread beyond tripoli. now, at this stage this has had an immediate consequence, quite devastating consequence, as you laid out there, at least 23 people killed, more than 140 people injured. but we heard from the gnu leader last night, he shared a video on twitter of his visit to the capital speaking to fighters, allied to the gnu, commending them really for their work in what he described as defending the capital, defending the country. he also commemorated those who
positions on a daily basis, including the kherson area. andre zagorodnyuk speaking with me earlier. deadly crashes in tripoli are raising fears of libya s insta instability. gunfire and explosions echoed across the capital saturday as the worst fighting in years erupted between rival militias. the health ministry says the clashes killed at least 23 people, left 140 hurt. u.n. mission in libya says neighborhoods were hit by shelling, so too hospitals, destroying dozens of build aengz homes. for more on this, cnn s nadia beshear joins us. what do we know about how this latest round of fighting actually kicked off and it has been a slow boil for quite some time now. absolutely, john. these clashes, these tensions have been simmering for some time now. this really centers on a months long political standoff between
but yesterday, at t, e teon supporters of hezbollah spiraled into clashes with rival militias. the violence was sparked by this a giant blast last year fueled by dangerous chemicals stored in unsafe conditions, killing over 200 people. the protesters claimed the official investigation is biased, but others say negligent leaders linked to hezbollah are implicated in the disaster. everything hezbollah is doing and saying and acting is showing one thing they do not want the truth to come out. reporter: mark daou is an anticorruption activist. lebanon is suffering one of the world s worst financial crisis since the 1800s, with shortages of food, electricity, and medicine. and he told us government corruption is the root of the problem. it is the leaders who have taken people s money,