More than 16,000 Libyans have been displaced in the latest fighting which saw Union Government (GNA) forces regain control of the entire west of the country at the expense of Marshal Haftar's forces, the mission said on Sunday United Nations (Manul).

"La Manul remains concerned about the suffering inflicted on the civilian population with the continuous cycle of violence," it said in a statement. 

"Recent military [developments] in Greater Tripoli and in Tarhouna [southeast of Tripoli] have resulted in new waves of displacement and suffering for more than 16,000 Libyans in recent days," said the source.

Bodies discovered at Tarhouna hospital 

The UN mission in Libya also qualifies as "very disturbing" unconfirmed information from independent sources on the discovery of bodies at the hospital in Tarhouna, last bastion of pro-Haftar in western Libya taken over Friday by pro-GNA.

It calls on the Tripoli authorities to promptly launch an impartial investigation. 

In the past few days, over 16,000 Libyans were displaced following intensified hostilities south of Tripoli.

As the conflict continues, impediments & challenges for humanitarian relief persist.

IOM & partners are scaling up to provide assistance.

More👉 https://t.co/NDCjwesMni pic.twitter.com/1k9hxBtUel

- IOM Libya (@IOM_Libya) June 6, 2020

"We have also received numerous reports of looting and destruction of private and public property in Tarhouna and Al-Assabaa [located 80 km south of Tripoli], which in some cases seem to be acts of reprisals," said Manul. .

On Sunday, the security situation appeared particularly fragile in Tarhouna, two days after the return to the city of the GNA.

Tripoli authorities said they had warned of reprisals or looting, under threat of criminal prosecution.

Protect the population

More generally, the Interior Ministry of the GNA called on the military and security forces in "the liberated areas" to take care to protect "the lives, the dignity and the properties" of the citizens.

After the proven failure of its offensive launched in April 2019 on the capital Tripoli, seat of the GNA, the strongman of eastern Libya, Khalifa Haftar, is now on the defensive.

>> Read also: Libya: hellish trap

The pro-GNA forces are advancing on Sirte, a strategic lock in the direction of the East and the most important oil installations in the country, still in the hands of Marshal Haftar.

In more than a year, the conflict in Libya has left hundreds of people dead, including many civilians, and forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes.

With AFP

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