Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah on Tuesday said that he would not “allow the war to erupt again” in the country.
Dbeibah made this remarks while delivering a speech at an event to mark the 81st anniversary of the establishment of the Libyan army.
“We lost young men and our social ties were torn because of wars, and we will not allow the war to erupt again.
“An army is born to protect peace. An army’s force is a tool for building, not destruction.
“An army cannot belong to a certain individual. It belongs to all Libyans,” Dbeibah said.
War erupted in and around Tripoli in April 2019 between the eastern-based army and the former UN-backed Government of National Accord in the Libyan capital.
The conflict lasted for more than a year.
The Libyan prime minister also said the mass graves found in the northwestern city of Tarhuna “caused us great sorrow.”
Located some 90 km south of the capital Tripoli, Tarhuna was once the eastern-based army’s main military operation center during the war.
Since the beginning of the search in June 2020, dozens of mass graves have been discovered in Tarhuna and nearly 140 unidentified bodies have been recovered.
The forces of the former UN-backed government accused the rival eastern-based army of mass killings in Tarhuna.