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Tripoli - A ceasefire went into force early on Saturday in the Libyan capital after two days of fighting between rival gunmen injured nine people and forced residents to cower indoors, the government said.

The fighting between two rival armed groups in eastern Tripoli erupted on Thursday after one accused the other of kidnapping four of its members, the Tripoli-based news agency LANA reported.

It said families trapped in the conflict zone of Abu Slim appealed to the authorities to intervene to halt the violence which closed down the city centre.

The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) said it had successfully brokered a ceasefire between the two groups, with help from town elders from Tarhuna and Gharian south of Tripoli.

An agreement has been reached to set up three committees to follow up on the accord, the GNA said in a statement released overnight.

One committee will be tasked with enforcing the ceasefire, another consisting of health ministry officials will follow up the condition of those wounded and the third will assess damage, the statement said.

The Libyan Red Crescent on Friday said nine people had been injured in the fighting. There was no official casualty toll.

LANA said the fighting with heavy weapons in the centre of Tripoli erupted on Thursday and raged throughout the day. A truce was reached, but quickly collapsed and clashes continued on Friday.

Residents caught in the crossfire said their homes were shaken by the sound of exploding rockets, as columns of smoke rose from the zone of fighting while tanks and trucks mounted with heavy anti-aircraft guns moved in the zone.

"Two apartments in housing blocks on the airport road were hit by rockets. I can see columns of smoke," local resident Nuria al-Mosbahi told AFP on Friday.

A convoy carrying GNA chief Fayez al-Sarraj came under heavy gunfire near the Abu Slim sector on Monday, but he and other top officials with him survived unharmed.

Libya has been submerged in chaos since the fall and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed 2011 armed uprising.

Sarraj's fragile GNA, formed under a UN-backed deal signed in late 2015, has struggled to impose its authority, particularly in eastern Libya where a rival administration holds sway.

UN envoy Martin Kobler has deplored the fighting and called, in an online statement, for "calm, dialogue and the protection of civilians".

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Libya govt secures ceasefire after Tripoli clashes - News24

NEW DELHI: An Indian doctor, who has been rescued from the Islamic State captive, has on Sunday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, National Security Agency of India and other senior officials for facilitating his release from Libya.

Dr Ramamurthy Kosanam, a native of Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district, said he would never forget the help done by the Indian authorities to get him free from the captivity of the terrorist group.

"They (ISIS) used to force me to get into operation theaters, but I never did any surgery or stitches for them," Kosanam was quoted as saying by ANI.

"These ISIS people are well-educated youngsters and they do know about India and its development and how it has developed in education, economy and everything else. They are interested in India. But, I did understand that they wanted to spread the ideology of their nation to other parts of the world, including India," he said.

"In a camp in the city, they requested me to come and work in their hospitals. But since I was 61 then I had back pain and right leg nerve pain. I told them I was an old man and I couldn't stand for more than 15 minutes at a stretch. I told them I am medically trained, not surgically trained. So they pulled me out of the Mahakama jail and put in another. I saw all kinds of attacks there," the doctor said.

Talking about the cadres of the terror group, Ramamurthy added that all the members of the outfit were extremely dedicated towards their organisation and were strictly following each and every rule.

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Indian doctor rescued from ISIS captivity in Libya - Times of India

TRIPOLI The bodies of 27 migrants have been recovered in Western Libya, 13 of whom died of suffocation in a shipping container, the Red Crescent said on Thursday.

The migrants found in the container appear to have been locked inside it for several days as it was transported to the coast at Khoms, where they were to attempt to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe, the Red Crescent said in a statement.

Fifty-six migrants were rescued from the container, some suffering from serious injuries and fractures, the statement said.

Another 14 migrant bodies were recovered from the sea near the coastal town of Zuwara, west of Tripoli, on Thursday, while some 124 migrants were rescued in the area, a local Red Crescent spokesman said.

Libya has become the main gateway for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. A record 181,000 migrants reached Italy along the route last year.

Within Libya, migrant smugglers operate with impunity, and migrants are subjected to a wide range of abuses, including rape, torture and forced labor.

Earlier this week the bodies of 74 migrants were found on the shore near Zawiya, another town west of Tripoli. The local coast guard said smugglers had stolen the engine from their boat. [nL8N1G62RD]

(Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

DUBAI Iran launched naval drills at the mouth of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean on Sunday, a naval commander said, as tensions with the United States escalated after U.S President Donald Trump put Tehran "on notice".

LONDON Islamic State militants are planning "indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians" in Britain on a scale similar to those staged by the Irish Republican Army 40 years ago, the head of the country's new terrorism watchdog said.

BEIRUT The Syrian army and its allies made a sudden advance on Saturday and Sunday into areas held by Islamic State in northwest Syria, a war monitor said, as the jihadist group retreated after losing the city of al-Bab to Turkey-backed rebels on Thursday.

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Bodies of 27 migrants recovered in west Libya, 13 in shipping container - Reuters

Some of the returnees last week at MMIA

I travelled in October 2016. The journey was very tough; we passed many obstacles the immigration, police, the desert. When we finally got to Libya, we suffered even more. We have to earn money to eat and to pay our burger- the people that took us there. They deceived us. They told me I was going there to work, they didnt tell me I was going there to do prostitution.

When I got there, they forced us to sleep with men and they collect the money. They said we have to pay them all the money they spent bringing us from Nigeria and the amount we owed was N700,000. So any day we sleep with men, they collect the money, she said.

Now finally free and back in Nigeria, Ogechi pleaded with Nigerian government to help stop the human trafficking and forced prostitution.Nigerian government should help us, we dont want to go back to that kind of work again, she pleaded. Another returnee, Vivian kelechi, 24 years, said she was also deceived into prostitution. I thought it was a normal job I will do, I never knew it was prostitution. I suffered a lot, the guy that took me there said he bought me from someone else so I had to pay him back, she said.

Every day after being abused by different men, Vivian said she has to still pay her owner from the money she made. The guy that took me there said I have to repay him for the travel expenses. He said the money was N650,000. What is paining me is that I have lost everything, I have nothing now, my mum is dead and I couldnt take care of her. I did ashawo work for nothing, my womb is down now, Each time I want to bath, I feel my womb and I know I have infection, she told The Guardian reporter.

With teary eyes, Vivian narrated why she had to travel to Libya in the first place: I was about to write my WAEC, but I had to drop out of school because my mum was sick. When my mums sickness got worse, someone told me about the travel and I agreed because I needed the money to help my mum. We need Nigerian government to help us with jobs so we will not go back to this kind of work again. Aminat Adewale, 26 years old, from Ogun State also has similar story to tell.I travelled last year August. We were deceived, the woman that took us told us we were going to Italy, not by road but by air. So many people died on the road, I am even lucky to be alive. When we reached Libya the woman sold us, she recalled.

With face full of agony she cried; They didnt tell us the kind of job we will do, they forced us into prostitution and made us pay them. After all her travail, Aminat said she was happy to be back in Nigeria. I chose to travel because I couldnt get job after my school. I learnt nursing after my secondary school, but when I checked the hospital requirement and found out that I dont have that, I have to look for a way to survive. If our government had helped us, we wouldnt bother to travel to another country, she said. For 21-year-old Deborah Ebiwonjumi, hers was a case of exploitation and physical abuse. The indigene of Ondo State, who came back with a broken hand, had suffered severe physical abuse. According to her, her parents were deceived by some people who promised her a decent job in Libya.

I travelled to Libya February 2016. Some people told my parents that they will help me get work in Libya, when I got there, the madam I was working for beat me. Last month, she told me to bring soap, when I brought it, she pushed me and I fell down. She told her husband that I poured the soap on the floor deliberately, she beat me and I broke my hand, then they took me to the hospital and abandoned me there. When I recovered, I didnt know the address of my madam, so the police came and took me to prison, she said.

Gift Peters, another returnee, said they were forced to drink urine of people when they refused to do indecent work.I got to Libya 11 months ago after being deceived that I was being taken to Germany. At Libya, they sold me to someone who has a connection house in Libya, where we were maltreated daily. If we dont want to work, they will do something to you that will make you wish to die. Sometimes they use iron to burn us. At times, they will instruct our fellow ladies to urinate for us to drink, she said.

It would be recalled that about 171 Nigerians voluntarily returned from Libya on Tuesday aboard a chartered Nouvelair aircraft with registration number TS-1NB. They were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya.

Majority of the returnees were young women. The Director, Search and Rescue, NEMA, Salisu Mohammed, who gave a breakdown of the returnees, said they were made up of 109 females, 49 males, seven children and six infants.

On ground to receive them at Murtala Mohammed airport Lagos, were officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, IOM, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, the National Agency for the Protection of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP), and the Police.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, Head of Sub -Office, IOM Lagos, Nahashon Thuo, said the organisation has been trying its best to see that the returnees are reintegrated back to the society. The IOM gave NGN 19,695 to support each of them on the rest of their journeys home. Thirty-two of the most vulnerable returnees (mothers with young children, medical cases, unaccompanied minors) in the group will receive in kind, assistance of approximately NGN 390 000 to support their reintegration into Nigerian communities. This assistance can be used to set up a small business or pay for education or for medical costs, he said.

Dr. Nahashon called on government and philantropists to assist in the rehabilitation process. According to him: There is still a lot that needs to be done to support the reintegration of the migrants, who would all benefit from vocational training and grants to set up small businesses. More can also be done to educate young men and women about the dangers of migrating to other countries without proper documentation. For now, IOMs full reintegration assistance is currently limited to supporting the most vulnerable migrants.

Addressing journalists, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, commended the IOM for facilitating the return of the Nigerians.

She said: Like I told them, they are not criminals. These are people that have gone in search of greener pastures. However, it turned out to be a terrible experience for them. Times are tough, things are difficult but your country is the best place to be.

According to her, the Federal Government, IOM and some states have put up programmes in place to rehabilitate Nigerians who volunteered to return from Libya in order to reintegrate them into the society.

A lot of them dont know where they are going to. There is a lot of ignorance here. Some of them are trafficked and they get there with nothing. The message here is that illegal migration is not worth it because as tough as the country is today, you are better off here than being in those places, Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa said.

She reiterated governments commitment to the welfare of Nigerians all over the world, stressing that it was currently addressing the issue of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa.

19 Feb Sunday Magazine

12 Feb CityFile

12 Feb Sunday Magazine

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Libya returnees: How we were forced into prostitution - Guardian

The military administration in eastern Libya has banned men and women between the ages of 18 and 45 from traveling abroad without explicit permission, a week after introducing a ban on women traveling alone.

The chief of staff in the eastern Libyan government, Abdel-Razek al-Nadhouri, said the measure was imposed to prevent people from joining terrorist networks abroad, the BBC reported.

Libyans who wish to to travel outside the country will now require permits from the ministry of interior or intelligence agency in the administration.

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Libyans take part in a celebration marking the sixth anniversary of the Libyan revolution, which toppled strongman Muammar el-Qaddafi, in Benghazi on February 17. Since Qaddafi's demise, Libya has been split by rival governments. ABDULLAH DOMA/AFP/Getty

Libya has several rival governments competing for power: There is a U.N.-backed administration, known as the Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli, while the eastern government is backed by the Libyan army and overseen by Khalifa Haftar, a top military general. A third administration has recently emerged in Tripoli, calling itself the National Salvation Government.

Al-Nadhouri announced an order on February 16 banning women under 60 from traveling abroad without a male companion. The chief of staff said women were being used as spies under the guise of working for civil society groups, but womens rights activists in Libya denounced the move.

The eastern government backtracked and suspended the order on Tuesday, following a meeting between al-Nadhouri and the director of eastern Libyas civil society commission, Abir Mneina, the BBC reported. But now the eastern administration has broadened the scope of travel restrictions in the country.

Since the toppling of longtime leader Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011, Libya has been in a state of instability, with rival factions competing for political control and militias multiplying across the country. The chaos has allowed militant groups to take root in the country, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State militant group (ISIS,) although forces allied to the U.N.-backed Tripoli government recently liberated the coastal city of Sirte, which was ISISs main stronghold in Libya.

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East Libya Bans 18-45-Year-Olds From Traveling Abroad - Newsweek