Clashes Reported in Libya's Benghazi Amid Communication Outages

Libyan authorities announced that the communication outage in Benghazi, the country's second-largest city, since Friday is due to damage to an optical fiber cable. However, the United Nations mission in Libya stated that this occurs amid armed clashes between the main military force in the city and a smaller faction. Benghazi is under the control of Eastern Libya forces (the Libyan National Army) led by Khalifa Haftar, a military coalition that controls the eastern part of the country. The UN mission in Libya expressed concern over the clashes and the ongoing communication outage in a social media post on Monday. Libyan media reported that Haftar's forces are clashing with an armed group affiliated with Mahdi al-Burghathi, who previously led a brigade fighting alongside the army before joining the unrecognized Tripoli government. Haftar's forces have yet to release a statement, and Reuters was unable to contact them or reach residents of Benghazi for comments due to the communication disruptions. The leader of the Barghathi tribe, which is a branch of the Awqir tribe influential in eastern Libya, stated that efforts are underway to reconcile Haftar and al-Burghathi. However, tribal chief Abdul Salam Abdul Aati al-Burghathi complained that al-Burghathi entered Benghazi in a convoy, calling it a security breach. Libyan media reported that clashes erupted on Friday evening shortly after al-Burghathi arrived at his home in the Salmani area of Benghazi.