Death toll from Tripoli fighting rises to 392: WHO

<p>By Walid Abdullah</p> <p>TRIPOLI (AA) – The death toll from weeks of fighting near Libyan capital Tripoli has risen to 392 with hundreds more injured, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). </p> <p>“At least 392 people have been killed as of May 2, while some 2,000 others have been injured,” the WHO said in a Monday statement. </p> <p>Another 50,000 people have left the capital as a result of the ongoing violence, it added.</p> <p>Since early April, Khalifa Haftar, who commands forces loyal to a government based in eastern Libya, has been leading a campaign to capture Tripoli, where Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) is headquartered. </p> <p>Although Haftar has so far failed to wrest the capital from pro-GNA forces, sporadic fighting on the city’s outskirts has left numerous casualties on both sides. </p> <p>Libya has remained beset by turmoil since long-serving leader Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a bloody NATO-backed uprising in 2011. </p> <p>Since then, the country has seen the emergence of two rival seats of power: one in eastern Libya, with which Haftar is affiliated, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN recognition. </p> <p>*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat</p>