Libya: Inside Libya's Ghost Town
By Tom Westcott
Bin Jawad Six weeks ago, Bin Jawad was a sleepy coastal town, home to a community of oil workers, shepherds and fishermen.
Today there is no fishing. The town's entire population - over 11,000 according to a 2006 census - has left. Houses stand deserted and the streets of this ghost town are littered with the spent shells of anti-aircraft guns. The residents have sought refuge in remote desert encampments or cramped village accommodation nearby.
The town is on the front line between Libya's two rival governments. The internationally recognised one - the winner of last year's elections - was forced out of the capital Tripoli in August 2014 and is now based over 1,000 kilometres away in the eastern town of Beida. Many of its supporters are pushing for greater autonomy in the east. The other, which continues to control Tripoli, is run by the Libya Dawn political military movement and its allies and has resurrected the country's former parliament, the General National Congress - a rival to the internationally recognised House of Representatives.
The two - both of which include Islamist and secular elements - command loose coalitions of fighting groups that have been involved in fierce clashes across the country in recent months. Elements of both sides are also currently in Geneva at UN-brokered peace talks, with the UN envoy warning that "time is running out."
In Bin Jawad, forces affiliated with Libya Dawn arrived in mid-December in a bid to gain control of some of the country's vital oil infrastructure, and since then the town has been subject to almost daily aerial bombardment from the Libyan National Army (LNA), the military of the Beida-based government.
Residents left gradually at first but, as the airstrikes intensified, everyone fled, with the last few remaining residents escaping a fortnight ago. The poorest, who could not afford to travel far, hurried into the safety of the desert.
"There are up to 50 families in tents scattered in the desert," said Fadiel Fadeal, who heads a group of Bin Jawad NGOs and the town's newly-formed crisis committee. "They have no electricity, no water, no mobile phone coverage and are lacking basic necessities, especially blankets, which is terrible because the nights are very cold."
Two soldiers from forces operating under the Tripoli-based government
Other families drove to nearby towns and villages where most have since been housed in makeshift accommodation in schools and public buildings. Thinking the conflict would be short-lived, they took just a few possessions, but have now been unable to return to their homes for over a month. Heavily reliant on local support, they have few resources and are now also facing a shortage of cash.
Excerpt from:
Libya: Inside Libya's Ghost Town