The British Foreign Office advises UK citizens against travelling to Libya and urges those who are currently in the country to leave immediately due to increasing violence, BBC reported on Saturday.
According to the Foreign Office, between 100 and 300 Britons could be staying in Libya at present. The UK embassy in Tripoli remains open but operates with limited staffing, providing “very limited” consular support.
The warning came amid reports of violent armed clashes between Libyan government troops and Islamist militants in Benghazi and Tripoli. At least 59 people have been killed there since late Saturday with the majority of the victims being civilians.
Earlier Saturday, the United States announced a temporary shutdown of the American embassy in Libya and evacuation of the staff to the neighboring Tunisia due to the ongoing military activity. The US State Department also warned their citizens to refrain from travelling to Libya.
The Foreign Ministry of the Philippines had also declared urgent evacuation of 13,000 of its citizens due to an “extremely unstable political situation” in Libya. Earlier 700 employees of the Turkish embassy left the country.
Escalation of violence in Libya began back in 2011 following the overthrow of country’s long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi. A large number of armed groups continue operating on the country’s territory. In some regions, the weapon supplies and fighting capabilities of the militants substantially exceed the resources of the local police.
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