Turkey has evacuated 82 of its citizens from Libya following days of deadly fighting between rival armed groups in the capital of Tripoli, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said late Friday.
“Eighty-two citizens who wanted to return to Turkey were assisted in their departure from Libya and allowed to return home,” a ministry source said, citing “the conflict and lack of security” in the country.
The evacuation followed a Facebook post Thursday by the Turkish Embassy in Tripoli, announcing plans for a Turkish Airlines flight from the port city of Misrata, about 200 kilometers east of Tripoli. The embassy said bus transport from the capital would be arranged.
The ministry did not release information about the evacuees or say if further flights were planned.
Fighting erupted in Tripoli late Monday between loyalist forces and militias that the government is seeking to dismantle. The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said Friday that at least eight civilians were killed during the clashes, which disrupted air traffic in the capital.
Calm returned to Tripoli on Friday, but the situation remained unstable.
Turkey, which supports the UN-recognized government led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, called for a cease-fire on Wednesday and said it was “closely monitoring” the developments.
Libya has remained divided since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, with Dbeibah’s administration in the west and a rival authority supported by commander Khalifa Haftar in the east.