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Heavy Fighting Traps Civilians in Eastern Libyan City


FILE - Members of the Libyan pro-government forces aim a weapon during their deployment in the Lamluda area, southwest of Derna, June 16, 2015.
FILE - Members of the Libyan pro-government forces aim a weapon during their deployment in the Lamluda area, southwest of Derna, June 16, 2015.

More than 120,000 people are trapped inside the eastern Libyan city of Derna by heavy fighting between Islamists and forces commanded by General Khalifa Haftar.

A U.N. report Thursday said Derna had suffered through "unprecedented" violence over the past several weeks, including bombardments and airstrikes.

Derna, Libya
Derna, Libya

There are severe shortages of food, water, medicine and electricity. One report said there have been no deliveries of aid since mid-March.

Haftar's Libyan National Army is trying to take back the city from a coalition of Islamists and local fighters, whom he calls terrorists.

Derna is the only city in eastern Libya that the LNA does not control.

Haftar is a fierce opponent of the Western-backed Libyan government in Tripoli. The central government is struggling to assert its authority across the entire country and is meeting strong resistance from militias and renegade armies such as Haftar's Libyan National Army.

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