UN reports tensions in Libyan town

UNITED NATIONS - The situation remains tense in the southeastern Libyan town of Kufra, where the death toll from recent inter-ethnic clashes is at least 100 and half the population has fled, the United Nations reported on Monday.

A team comprising staff from the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the UN Humanitarian Country Team has wrapped up an assessment visit to Kufra, and found that the ceasefire brokered by local authorities last week is still holding, according to a press release from UNSMIL.

At least 113 people from the Toubu tribe and another 23 from the Zwai tribe have been killed sine clashes erupted on February 12, reports said.

Long-simmering tensions between the two ethnic communities erupted on February 12 in Kufra, which is also a key staging point for migrants making their way between sub-Saharan Africa and the north of the continent.

Ian Martin, the UN special envoy to Libya, said last week that humanitarian agencies "were on their way to Kufraq now to assess the situation there."

As much as half of Kufra's population has sought refuge outside the town, while some 200 third-country migrants are waiting to be moved from the area, said UNSMIL.

The UN and Libyan humanitarian partners continue to provide assistance to Kufra residents, supplying food, medicines, mattresses, blankets and hygiene kits. The mission said more supplies will arrive soon from existing stocks in the country and elsewhere.

UNSMIL reiterated its call on the Toubu and Zwai to resolve their dispute peacefully and said it would continue to help Libya's interim national authorities to pursue reconciliation efforts.