Rival militias negotiate truce in Libya’s Tripoli

BENGHAZI, Libya – Libyan security officials say a temporary cease-fire has taken hold in the capital of Tripoli, after deadly fighting between rival militias that dominate the city flared up last week.

They say negotiations overseen by tribal elders from the nearby town of Bani Walid were ongoing Sunday, with hopes the militias from Tripoli, Zintan and Tarhouna? can agree to stop the fighting. They spoke anonymously as they weren’t authorized to brief reporters.

The Health Ministry raised the fighting’s death toll since Wednesday to 16, with 65 wounded and three missing. Some 213 families were evacuated from Tripoli, they added.

Separately, the United Nations voiced its “deep concern” about reports of fresh violence and mobilization of armed groups in the country’s south, which it said signalled the “growing risks of imminent conflict.”