By Libya Herald reporter.
London, 19 October 2017:
The International Committee for the Red Cross ICRC) says that in its emergency response to the violent clashes in Libya’s north-west, it had provided lifesaving medical materials to health facilities as well as food and household items to more than 1,200 families.
Dozens of civilians and fighters were killed and several hundred were wounded during the three weeks of fighting that erupted in mid-September in populated areas of Sabratha, the ICRC reports.
”Most of the displaced had to flee their homes in a rush while fighting was raging. They had to run to save their lives without being able to carry any belongings with them”, said Karl Mattli, the Head of Delegation for the ICRC in Libya. “Though they found shelter with relatives and with fellow citizens, they were left without food and without the most basic necessities”.
Together with its partners from the LRCS, the ICRC provided over 7,000 people with a month’s worth of food and household items such as mattresses, blankets, hygiene items and kitchenware to help them cope with their most urgent needs
Medication and other lifesaving health material including dressing sets, gloves, infusion sets, splints and injection material were delivered to several LRCS branches and health facilities across western Libya for the treatment of anyone wounded in the fighting, including fighters from both sides and wounded civilians.
In addition, the ICRC is supporting an LRCS clinic that treats displaced persons as well as the LRCS branches of Sabratha and Zuwara with medical material to provide health assistance to migrants as an emergency response.
It also supplied the LRCS Sabratha branch and health facilities with material to handle human remains resulting from the fighting.
The ICRC reminded all those involved in fighting to spare civilians and civilian infrastructures and to do their utmost to ensure that civilians are not harmed during armed clashes. Healthcare facilities and health workers must be protected at all times so they can assist victims of the clashes. Medical personnel and LRCS volunteers must have safe access to their places of work at all times.
