The Libyan Presidential Council, in its capacity as the supreme commander of the army, ordered all forces that clashed in the capital, Tripoli, to immediately stop and return to their headquarters without any delay, whatever the reasons.
The Presidential Council called on the Chief of the General Staff of the Libyan Army to take immediate measures against the commanders of those forces, and to exercise his legal powers to control the situation.
The Presidential Council also ordered the Military Prosecutor to initiate an immediate investigation with the commanders of the forces and those responsible for the clashes.
In turn, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya called for the immediate cessation of what it described as the hostilities taking place in the Salah al-Din area in the capital, Tripoli.
The mission expressed its concern about the continued armed clashes and indiscriminate shooting in the densely populated area.
It also called on all parties to exercise restraint and assume their responsibilities in ensuring the protection of civilians and civilian facilities, in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions.
The mission stressed the need to initiate the process of disarmament, reintegration and security sector reform, and to bring all weapons under State control.
Clashes broke out in the early hours of Friday in the Libyan capital between the "444th Brigade" and the so-called "Stability Support Force", in the fiercest clashes in Tripoli since the fighting between the internationally recognized Government of National Accord forces and the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar stopped a year ago.
Sabha people
In a parallel context, the people of the city of Sabha in southern Libya demanded that the Libyan authorities and the UN mission expel the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar from the city.
This came in a video statement yesterday evening, Friday, in response to the incident of closing the airspace at Sebha Airport.
Last Monday, Haftar's forces closed the airspace in Sebha to prevent the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed El Manfi, from visiting the city.
The people of Sebha called on the Presidential Council, the Prime Minister and the UN mission to "withdraw all illegal forces affiliated with the eastern region."
The residents accused Haftar's forces of trying to "control the cities of the south to impose a political agenda that serves some people and does not serve the country."
They also demanded "to hand over all land and air ports to the Sebha City Security Directorate."
He warned the people not to engage in armed confrontations with Haftar's forces if their demands were not met, according to the statement.
Since April 2019, the city of Sebha and some areas of southern Libya have been under the control of Haftar.