The United Nations on Wednesday accused the Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar of refusing to give landing permits for its regular flights transporting its staff to and from Libya.

A statement released by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) added that the incident had occurred several times in the past weeks.

The UNSMIL added that the denial of landing permits in Libya will adversely affect its humanitarian efforts in the country which has been embroiled in conflict since April last year.

"The United Nations is very concerned that preventing its flights from traveling in and out of Libya will severely hinder its humanitarian and good offices effort at a time when all its staff are working relentlessly to push forward the ongoing three-track intra-Libyan dialogue and to provide the much-needed humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable conflict-affect civilians," the statement read in part.

On Saturday, the UN said that several days of U.N.-brokered talks ended without reaching a deal to consolidate a provisional cease-fire in and around Tripoli.

The current cease-fire was brokered by Russia and Turkey last month It marked the first suspension of fighting in months, but both sides have repeatedly violated the agreement.

The UNSMIL said that another round of negotiations was proposed for later in February "as both sides agreed to the need to continue the negotiations".

Libya has been in turmoil since the LNA launched a military campaign in April 2019 to take over the capital Tripoli where the UN-backed government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj is based.

The LNA has, however, struggled to break the government’s defences in the south of Tripoli during its campaign.

The offensive triggered the latest outbreak of violence in the country since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 resulting in the deaths of thousands of people.

Source(s): UNSMIL, Reuters