Fighting among rival militias has ignited a fuel depot close to the Tripoli airport. Western governments have ordered their citizens to leave the country.
Several European governments ordered their citizens to leave Libya on Monday after intense fighting resulted in an uncontrollable oil fire near the Tripoli airport.
Plumes of smoke rise in the sky after a rocket hit a fuel storage tank near the airport road in Tripoli, during clashes between rival militias July 28, 2014.
Ismail Zitouny / Reuters
The massive fire, which the interim Libyan government called a "humanitarian and environmental disaster," has prompted local television stations to call for civilians to evacuate a 3-mile area around the airport. The inferno represents the latest chapter in a protracted civil war that began three years ago with the ousting of dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi and has continued with infighting among a mosaic of factions with conflicting religious and ideological motivations.
Rival militias have been fighting for control of the capital and its airport for two weeks. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was hurt in Monday's fire, but the Libyan health ministry said on Sunday that the recent fight for the airport had left about 80 dead and some 400 wounded.
Passengers are seen in a hall at Tripoli's Mitiga airport, after clashes between rival militias closed down Tripoli International Airport July 27, 2014.
Hani Amara / Reuters
Partly in response to the fire, Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands ordered their citizens to leave the North African country as soon as possible, keeping only a skeleton staff at their embassies. The European nations were also responding to an incident on Sunday in which rebel militias shot at a vehicle carrying British diplomats.
The European evacuation follows the decision by the United States to completely shut down the American embassy in Tripoli, moving all diplomatic personnel to nearby Tunisia. The U.S. State Department has been especially cautious in Libya since the American Ambassador was killed in an attack on the Benghazi consulate two years ago.
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1k3RqgV
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