Libyan TV says 2 reporters kidnapped amid Tripoli fighting

CAIRO – A Libyan television channel says two of its reporters were kidnapped by forces loyal to a military commander while covering fighting in the capital, Tripoli.

Libya Alahrar TV said in a statement Friday that forces allied with Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter allegedly detained the journalists Mohamed al-Qarg and Mohamed al-Shibani, who went missing a day earlier.

Hifter’s self-styled Libyan National Army has been locked in a monthlong battle to take Tripoli against militias loosely allied with a U.N.-supported government. The fighting has killed at least 345 people, including 22 civilians, according to the United Nations.

Nasser al-Hawary, a Libyan human rights advocate, said this was the first kidnapping of journalists since fighting began April 4. He said both parties may begin targeting reporters to conceal the situation on the ground.