NEW YORK
The humanitarian crisis in Libya calls for an additional $35 million in aid, a UN relief agency said has said.
Health and food assistance, and the provision of items like hygiene kits, as well as other services, are urgently needed by the 331,000 refugees who have been displaced from their homes by conflict in Libya, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement Thursday.
"While the conflict has obliged the vast majority of the international community present in Libya, including the United Nations, to temporarily withdraw from the country, access is being sought through national and international partners who have presence in the country and through UN agency national staff," the statement said.
According to the agency's Libya country team, more than 331,000 people need assistance and around 287,000 people are displaced from their homes in the capital, Tripoli, and in the second largest city of Benghazi.
The increasing violence in the North African country has resulted in around 100,000 people fleeing to neighboring countries, according to the agency.
Libya has been dogged by political instability since the 2011 ouster and death of long standing ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
In the last three years, rival militias have frequently clashed in Libya's main cities, while the central government has remained effectively powerless.
www.aa.com.tr/en
