By Ajdnadin Mustafa.
Tripoli, 25 September 2014:
Zintan and Warshefana forces have taken up positions in Azziziya to the . . .[restrict]west of Tripoli as armed clashes continue on the outskirts of the capital.
Wahrshefana military sources told the Libya Herald that the forces from the west of the country were acting on the instructions of the General Chief of Staff Colonel Abdul Razzaq Nazhuri and had retaken Azziziya after regrouping in Ras Al-Fai.
The two local militias are now apparently fortifying their positions in anticipation of an attack by the Misratan-led Libya Dawn forces.
The road from the west to the capital has remains closed with reports of sporadic fighting all the way to Tunisia. In Janzur, just outside Tripoli, local residents have started cleaning debris from the road, the result of months of clashes.
Warshefana’s retaking of Azziziya follows days of fighting in the immediate area which caused dozens of casualties. It has put a huge strain on the local population producing food and medical supply shortages. On top of this the nearby Zahra hospital and other clinics were shelled and struggled to cope with influx of patients.
Azziziya civil society organisations condemned the clashes as “gross violations of human rights,” and listed kidnappings, murder and torture as well as destruction of private property as some of the crimes perpetrated by armed groups.
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