UN Security Council to meet as Tripoli offensive escalates

Fights in Libya have intensified as the UN Security Council prepares to meet behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss the oil-rich North African country’s bloody crisis.

Armed rival factions are locked in a deadly power struggle to control the Libyan capital Tripoli, forcing United Nations to postpone on Tuesday a national conference aimed at drawing up an election roadmap.

Libya has been fragmented by divisions since 2011 uprisings which saw long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi toppled.

Since then, various armed groups and two parallel governments have vied for control over the country's territory and oil wealth.

Heavy arms fire was heard overnight in the Ain Zara district on the southeastern outskirts of Tripoli as renegade general Khalifa Haftar's forces pressed an assault with the purpose of taking the capital from the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).

The UN warned that nearly half a million children in Tripoli were "at immediate risk," with 3,400 people already displaced.

Haftar's forces, which control large swathes of the country's east, claimed they had captured a barracks in the Aziziya area, around 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of Tripoli as well as detained several fighters loyal to the GNA.

The internationally recognised government carried out several air strikes against Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA ) south of Tripoli, in addition to hitting supply lines in central Libya, GNA spokesman Colonel Mohamed Gnounou said on Tuesday.

Haftar's forces are reportedly advancing on two fronts, from the south and southeast of Tripoli, while fighters loyal to the GNA are defending coastal roads to the east and west of the city.

The UN Security Council and the United States called on Haftar to stop the surprising offensive on Thursday, but the renegade general ignored their demands.

Filippo Grandi, the UN's high commissioner for refugees, called for the belligerent factions to "spare civilians, including refugees and migrants trapped in the country".

UNICEF, the UN children's agency, called on all factions "to refrain from committing grave violations" against children, including the recruitment of child soldiers.

The UN agency estimates that approximately half a million children in Tripoli and tens of thousands more in the western areas are at a direct risk as a result of the country’s deadly power struggle in which various rivals are locked.

The GNA's health ministry said on Monday 35 died following the clashes, while Haftar's forces said 14 of their fighters have died.

Haftar, who control the eastern part of Libya, does not recognize the GNA's authority, Led by Fayez al-Sarraj whose government has been accused by LNA spokesman Ahmad al-Mesmari of "allying itself with Islamist militias."