The United Nations sought to salvage talks over a ceasefire for Libya on Wednesday, after the government based in Tripoli announced overnight that it was pulling out after a single day, to protest against the shelling of the port in the capital, reported Reuters.

Libya’s internationally recognised government on Tuesday suspended talks hosted by the United Nations to halt warfare over the capital after eastern forces shelled Tripoli’s port, killing three people and almost hitting a highly explosive gas tanker.

Rebel group the Libyan National Army (LNA) says it bombed a vessel carrying weapons from Turkey in Tripoli’s port, an attack that led the UN-recognised government to call off peace negotiations in Switzerland.

The United Nations has described Libya as the “world’s largest theatre for drone technology,” and warned that the nine-year conflict was taking an “incalculable” toll on civilians.

The eastern Libyan forces of Khalifa Haftar attacked the sea port of Libya’s capital on Tuesday as they targeted as they claim a Turkish vessel bringing in arms, an eastern official said.

The BBC News Russian confirmed Monday the killing of the first Russian soldier in Libya identified to be “Gleb Mostovoy” on February 6.

Libyans from a number of cities have gathered in the capital, Tripoli, to celebrate nine years since the beginning of an uprising that eventually toppled Muammar Gaddafi after 42 years in power.

The Intra-Libyan Joint Military Commission is resuming its meeting in Geneva on 18 February, the UN said in a statement.

EU foreign ministers said on Monday that they have agreed to launch a new mission in the Mediterranean Sea to enforce a United Nations arms embargo on Libya that is currently routinely flouted.

The threat posed by unexploded bombs is rising exponentially in wartorn Libya, experts have warned, with the use of banned cluster weapons a source of particular concern.