TRIPOLI: Across Libya’s capital residents have started drilling through pavements to access wells in a desperate search for water after the taps ran dry in a new low for living conditions.
After years of neglect, workers turned off the water to do urgent maintenance earlier this month, cutting supplies to many Tripoli households. Then an armed group sabotaged the system, prolonging the misery.
The water crisis is a powerful symbol of state failure in a country that was once one of the wealthiest in the Middle East but has been gripped by turmoil since a 2011 uprising unseated Muammar Qaddafi.
For Libyans the chaos has meant power cuts and crippling cash shortages. These are often made worse by battles between armed groups vying for control of the fractured oil-rich state and its poorly-maintained infrastructure.
“We haven’t had water for 10 days. The state does nothing,” said Nasser Said, a landlord in Tripoli’s upmarket Ben Ashour district.
Already equipped with a generator to keep the power running during outages that sometimes last more than a day, he hired drillers to dig some 31 meters to extract groundwater for the six apartments in the residential block he owns.
“No water, no electricity. You become a state in a state,” he said, standing next to his building on a leafy side street. “We last had to do this maybe 20 years ago.”
Like many Libyans, Said is skeptical about the chances of UN-led peace talks unifying rival factions that have been fighting for control.
The talks were adjourned last week with little sign of progress in creating a government that could stabilize Libya and stand up to armed groups that have repeatedly seized oil facilities and other state assets to make demands.
The UN-supported Government of National Accord (GNA) has struggled to impose its authority since its leaders arrived in Tripoli in March last year.
Early last week an armed faction in the south said it had turned off water supplies from Qaddafi’s Great Man Made River, a pipeline system that pumps water from underneath Libya’s vast southern desert to coastal areas such as Tripoli.
The group is seeking the release of a leader imprisoned by a rival faction in the capital, said Tawfiq Shwehaidi, a manager at the Great Man Made River based in the eastern city of Benghazi.
“We had started maintenance work on the 16th (of October) and cut supplies to Tripoli,” he said.
“Afterwards an armed group... set one power plant on fire which closed three other plants and shut down 24 wells.”
That has deprived residents of water while boosting the business of drillers who for 4,000-6,000 Libyan dinars ($2,940-$4,410 at the official exchange rate) access groundwater unused in some neighborhoods since the Great Man Made River started pumping water to Tripoli in 1996.
“We drill about three wells in two weeks — it takes about three to four days to drill a well,” said Abdulsalam Forganea, a 23-year-old worker helping to operate an aging drilling rig.
No budget
Parts of Tripoli offer a semblance of normality and power cuts have eased since the summer.
The city has seen fewer big clashes since a handful of armed groups aligned with the GNA earlier this year.
But security is still fragile. A former prime minister was abducted in August for nine days by one of the two most powerful armed groups, while the other engaged in a battle this month that shut down the airport.
A Reuters reporter recently saw a traffic clogged commercial street suddenly empty as a man was fatally shot by militiamen. Kidnapping for ransom is rife.
A conflict that escalated in 2014 has put extra pressure on a Tripoli population that swelled to an estimated three million with the arrival of displaced families from other Libyan cities.
Public health services are failing, inflation has spiraled, and the start of the school year has been delayed by several weeks because teachers are striking over salaries.
Shutdowns crippled oil revenues so little has been spent on repairs and maintenance, and the water network and other infrastructure have been corroded.
Most government spending goes on public salaries, including for former rebel groups that forced their way onto the state payroll after Qaddafi’s overthrow.
“No budget has been transferred... since 2011 except the emergency budget, which is the result of the financial difficulties experienced by the Libyan state,” said Naji Assaed, head of the Libyan Water Authority.
Production at desalination plants has fallen sharply, with output at a plant in the western town of Zuwara dropping from 80,000 cubic liters to 16,000 cl annually.
Assaed said officials were working hard to resolve the crisis, but it was not clear when supplies would be restored. As he spoke a tanker arrived up to deliver water for his tattered ministry building.
“In the absence of adequate spare parts, lack of budgets, lack of stability in the security situation, security chaos, people do not comply with the law and all this has affected the performance of the system,” he said.
Libyans dig for water in latest test for capital’s residents
Libyans dig for water in latest test for capital’s residents
Two Egyptian pilots killed in helicopter crash in Suez: army
CAIRO: Two Egyptian air force officers were killed on Tuesday when a helicopter crashed during a training exercise, the military said.
The helicopter went down near a key air base in the town of Shalufa, in Suez province, “due to a technical malfunction,” military spokesman Gharib Abdel Hafez said in a post on his official Facebook page.
He did not specify the manufacturer or model of the aircraft.
The Egyptian air force operates aircraft from various countries, including France, Russia and the United States.
In November 2022, the military said a fighter jet had crashed during a military exercise but it reported no casualties.
In December 2019, an aircraft crashed during a training exercise. The pilot ejected safely.
US soldier injured during Gaza pier operation has died: military
- “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley,” Captain Shkeila Milford-Glover said
- In addition to the injuries, the project faced other problems starting in May, when the pier was damaged by bad weather and had to be removed for repairs
WASHINGTON: An American soldier has died after being injured during Washington’s problem-plagued operation to establish a temporary aid pier on the coast of Gaza, the US military said Tuesday.
The pier effort aimed to boost deliveries of desperately needed humanitarian assistance into the war-wracked Palestinian territory as Israel held up shipments by land.
But the effort ran into repeated weather issues and the United States ended it in mid-July, some two months after its installation.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley, a recently retired motor transport operator,” Captain Shkeila Milford-Glover, spokesperson for the 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, said in a statement.
She did not say when Stanley died or what kind of injury he had sustained, specifying only that the soldier had been receiving treatment in a long-term care facility.
He was one of three US military personnel who suffered non-combat injuries at sea during the pier operation.
The two others suffered minor injuries, a sprained ankle and a hurt back, the military said in May.
In addition to the injuries, the project faced other problems starting in May, when the pier was damaged by bad weather and had to be removed for repairs.
It was then reattached on June 7, but was moved to Ashdod on June 14 to protect it from anticipated high seas — a situation that was repeated later in the month.
US President Joe Biden announced the pier project during his State of the Union address in March as Israel held up deliveries of assistance by land, and the Pentagon has said it helped push the Israeli government to open more aid routes.
Japanese prime minister praises Saudi Arabia’s role in addressing the Gaza crisis
- PM Ishiba made the remarks during a telephone summit with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
- Ishiba stated that he would like to strengthen the strategic partnership between Japan and Saudi Arabia
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hailed “Saudi Arabia’s leadership on Gaza” and expressed his determination to continue working with the Kingdom to bring stability to the Middle East.
Ishiba made the remarks during a telephone summit with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, during which he expressed his hope that Saudi Arabia would continue to play a leading role in stabilizing the global oil market.
The Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said the crown prince expressed his wish to deepen cooperation with Japan in various fields, including politics, economics, security, and potentially technology transfer and cultural exchange.
Ishiba said he would like Japan and Saudi Arabia to expand cooperation to areas including clean energy, advanced technology, and entertainment.
With 2025 marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Ishiba reiterated his commitment to peace and stability in the region. He stated that he would like to strengthen the strategic partnership between Japan and Saudi Arabia and work even more closely together to promote these values. The crown prince also affirmed his commitment to these goals, stating that Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to its relations with Japan and welcomes further cooperation.
The Foreign Ministry added that both leaders shared their concerns about conflicts in the Middle East and the need for all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint. Ishiba said he appreciated Saudi Arabia’s leadership on Gaza, and the two leaders agreed to continue working closely together to achieve stability in the Middle East.
Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border
DAMASCUS: An Israeli strike hit a Syrian town near the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, less than a week after deadly strikes on the same area.
“An Israeli aggression targeted the industrial zone in Al-Qusayr” in Homs province, the official SANA news agency said. There was no immediate news of casualties or damage.
Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters including from Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has intensified its strikes on Syria since it launched its war on Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on the strikes, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.
Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391
- The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours
GAZA STRIP: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed in the year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.