UN agency: Rival tribes clash in southern Libya; 90 killed

CAIRO – A U.N. humanitarian agency says at least 90 people have died this month in southern Libya amid fighting between rival tribes.

The fighting pits the Arab Alzway tribe against the sub-Saharan African Tabu tribe that inhabits a wide area stretching across Chad, Libya, Sudan and Niger and that often crosses into Libya.

The clashes are centred in and around the town of Murzuq, located about 800 kilometres, or 500 miles, south of the capital, Tripoli.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Tuesday the clashes have displaced 6,400 people. It says the dead include 45 killed in an Aug. 4 airstrike in the town.

That strike has been blamed on the self-styled Libyan National Army, which is fighting to capture Tripoli and which supports Alzway tribesmen.