Last week, around 1,000 members of Sudan’snotorious Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were reported to have arrived in eastern Libya, joining the ranks of Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) which is waging war against the country’s UN-recognised government in Tripoli.

Libya is to close three migrant and refugee detention centres after criticism from the UN over squalid conditions and inadequate food supplies.

Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha and his Italian counterpart Matteo Salvini held talks over the telephone on Tuesday to discuss Libya’s current situations.

Ministry of Transport of the UN-backed Libyan government denied on Tuesday the remarks of UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame about the military use of Mitiga airport in the capital Tripoli.

Major General Osama Joueili, Commander of the Western Military Region of the Government of National Accord (GNA), announced that his forces took “unexpected” countermeasures in anticipation of an external air attack on the capital Tripoli.

Libya’s warring sides have taken their battle for Tripoli to the skies as fighting stalls on the ground, alarming UN envoy Ghassan Salame, who has stepped up calls for a truce.

The forces of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) will not stop military operations until troops of their rival Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, are withdrawn to their pre-war positions, GNA head Fayez Sarraj said.

The only functioning airport in Tripoli, Mitiga Airport, has reopened its air traffic and resumed scheduled flights after suspending them twice on Monday due to attacks by Khalifa Haftar’s forces. 

The UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame has also called for a truce on the Muslim holiday of Eid as the conflict deepens.

UNICEF has condemned the latest shelling on Al-Alamain school in Tripoli on Saturday. In a thread on Twitter, the UNICEF said the children and the teachers were not at school during the time of the incident, as the academic year has ended on the 17th of July.