TRIPOLI: Tripoli’s worst armed clashes in a year have killed 55 people and wounded 146, Libyan media reported Wednesday, as a truce took hold. The clashes were triggered by the detention of the head of the 444 Brigade, Col. Mahmud Hamza, by the rival Al-Radaa Force on Monday, an interior ministry official said. In May, the two armed groups had clashed for hours in Tripoli, also after the arrest of a 444 Brigade member. Human Rights Watch Libya researcher Hanan Saleh expressed outrage that the capital’s armed groups continued to settle their differences with heavy weaponry in residential areas without being held accountable. The 444 Brigade is affiliated with Libya’s defense ministry and is reputed to be the North African country’s most disciplined.
