Western newspapers have talked about the fierce political and security rivalry between France and Italy over Libya, amid a hindered political process due to the contradicted US project, which aims to establish an Arab military alliance to counter Iran’s growing influence in the region.

Rival Libyan militias agreed to a new ceasefire aimed at halting nearly a week of deadly clashes south of the capital Tripoli, officials said.

A freelance journalist who contributed to The Associated Press and other news organizations was killed Saturday in the Libyan capital, a colleague said.

Armed groups in southern Libyan cities of Murziq and Sabha have rejected joining the operation forces of the self-styled army of Khalifa Haftar after arriving in Taminhint to control the southern region.

Three deaths, 11 injuries and one missing were reported by the Faiez Serraj Tripoli Health Ministry (MoH) in Friday’s south Tripoli militia fighting.

The forces of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar said they killed on Friday three jihadists including a senior al-Qaeda member in the south of the country days after launching a security operation.

Two days of clashes between rival militias near Libya’s capital, Tripoli, have left 10 people dead and 41 wounded, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The forces of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar on Wednesday announced a military operation to “purge” jihadists and criminal gangs from the south of the conflict-hit nation.

A new round of clashes between rival militias in Libya’s capital left at least five people dead, the country’s health ministry said, without specifying whether the casualties were civilians or fighters.

Despite a large number of IDPs having returned home to Derna in the last six months, approximately 1,200 families continue to be displaced in several areas of Libya, including 600 families within the city, a UNHCR overview reported yesterday.