TRIPOLI, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday said that over 42,000 people in and around the Libyan capital Tripoli fled their homes because of the ongoing fighting.
"Indiscriminate shelling and heavy gunfire are causing destruction and displacement ... More than 42,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the conflict began earlier this month," the UNHCR said in a statement.
"In the most affected areas, there is an increasing sense of desperation. UNHCR staff in Libya say that people are afraid to leave their homes," it said.
Water is in short supply, power is regularly cut off and there is scarce access to food, fuel and other key basic items in those areas.
The UNHCR called for "unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all affected areas and a temporary humanitarian truce to allow for the provision of emergency services as well as the safe and voluntary passage for civilians to leave the affected areas."
The eastern-based army, led by Khalifa Haftar, has been leading a military campaign since early April to take over Tripoli where the UN-backed government is based.
The fighting has so far killed 345 people and injured 1,652 others, the World Health Organization said.
Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition amid insecurity and chaos since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
