The United Nations mission to Libya on Wednesday urged the country's warring sides to lay down their weapons and to "shift their focus" to battling the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic," UNSMIL tweeted.
"UNSMIL calls for an immediate de-escalation, including cessation of hostilities, demobilisation of forces, and stopping the influx of foreign fighters and weapons," read the tweet.
"Libyans need to shift their focus to the fight against Covid-19," the tweet added.
"While the whole world is engaged in fighting the spread of Covid-19, which has overwhelmed several well-resourced countries, attacks and counter attacks in Libya continue to inflict further suffering and civilian casualties," UNSMIL tweeted separately.
On Tuesday, UNSMIL's chief Stephanie Williams deplored the repeated shelling of targets in Tripoli's Ain Zara district including a jail, warning that the hostilities could cause an outbreak of the coronavirus in the war-wracked country.
The attacks were allegedly by forces allied with the self-styled Libyan National Army of eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar.
“The continuation of the fighting risks an undetected and out-of-control spread of Covid-19,” Williams warned.
