MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) – The French Foreign Ministry urged its citizens, who are currently in Libya, to leave the country due to security concerns, Reuters reported Sunday citing the ministry’s statement.
“All our nationals are invited to get in touch as quickly as possible with our embassy in Tripoli,” the document said.
The statement came shortly after the Libyan health ministry announced that 97 people were killed and 400 wounded in clashes around Tripoli international airport since July 13.
Earlier Sunday, a group of militants attacked a cortege of the British diplomatic mission in the Libyan capital. Nobody was injured. The UK Foreign Office called on British citizens to immediately leave the Arab country. It is believed that up to 300 Britons are presently in Libya.
On Saturday, the United States announced a temporary shutdown of the American embassy in Libya and evacuation of the staff to neighboring Tunisia due to the ongoing military activity. The US State Department also warned its 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 diplomatic mission 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.
