30 killed after two days of heavy fighting in southeast Libya

At least 30 people have been killed following two days of clashes in southeastern Libya.

Heavy clashes in southeast Libya, 30 killed https://t.co/PnS1fLn1Ee pic.twitter.com/RYjzgo0aLr

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) February 5, 2016

A local official said on Friday that the clashes are between Libya’s Subul Assalam faction,and Sudanese fighters from the Darfur region in western Sudan.

According to Abdurrahman Hashim who heads the Subul Assalam faction, his group was retaliating for armed robberies and attempted attacks on Kufra, in Libya’s desert, which shares a border with northwestern Sudan.

Hashim added that at least one of his men had been killed and six wounded in the fighting and his fighters had also destroyed and captured a number of vehicles.

While speaking to news agencies, the mayor of Kufra, Miftah Bou Khali, said that Subul Assalam fighters attacked an oasis 150 km north-west of Kufra on Friday, killing 10 Sudanese fighters and capturing four.

He added that at least 20 more Sudanese fighters were attacked and killed at a checkpoint located 200 kilometres north of Kufra.

The Sudanese fighters are believed to be rebels who moved into the vicinity of Kufra following the revolt that toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Since then, the north African country has been embroiled in turmoil with competing factions and loose alliances of armed groups fighting for political power and control over country’s oil wealth.