Cease-fire holding in Kufra, Libya

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KUFRA, Libya, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A tenuous cease-fire held Monday in Kufra, Libya, where half the population has fled after inter-ethnic fighting left 100 or more dead, the United Nations said.

The United Nations said in a release that an assessment team had been in Kufra and ascertained at least 100 people died in clashes that began Feb. 12 between the Toubu and Zwai tribes in the desert town in southeastern Libya. The international organization did not provide an estimate of the number of people who have fled their homes but the entire Kufra district in which the town is located has about 50,000 people.

U.N. and other aid groups are providing food, medicine, blankets and other supplies to the displaced residents of Kufra.

The U.N. mission is calling on the two tribes to resolve their dispute peacefully, while trying to help Libya's interim national authorities to pursue reconciliation efforts.