Eight years since the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the once prosperous African nation has fallen on some of its hardest times. 2019 has seen stark divisions grow worse between rival factions based in Tripoli and the east. Many say the U.S.-led intervention in Libya in 2011 has backfired in many ways, as the fighting continues.
Since April, the eastern Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) has continued fighting forces aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA), which was set up in 2016 following a UN-brokered deal.
The UN estimates that the conflict has so far resulted in thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 120,000.
Experts say the Libyan people have embraced anything but liberty and peace since the fall of Gaddafi's regime. Under his rule, living standards in Libya were among the best in Africa, with residents enjoying free medical care and education. But now their society is tortured by ongoing conflict, shortages of money and food, and many are homeless due to the fighting.
Rong Ying, vice president of the China Institution of International Studies, told CGTN that intervention in the internal affairs of another country is nothing new for the U.S. "Whatever the case, if you look at what is happening in Libya, the situation is totally chaos. Conflicts had been going on."
As the military offensive on Tripoli by Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) enters its sixth month, more and more citizens are forced to flee their homes torn by the violence.
An 80-year-old woman and her daughter spent days sleeping rough in the Libyan capital. Now they are in a shelter where sheets cover broken windows and two desks serve as a kitchen.
Others chose to flee their homeland entirely, looking for help in neighboring countries. Rwanda has received 66 asylum-seekers who were held in a Libyan detention center, the first group of 500 to be sent there under a new agreement with the United Nations to help resettle people detained while trying to reach Europe.
In Libya, most people appear indifferent toward the concept of democracy. A Western style of democracy is bringing disaster and strife to this once prosperous nation.
(Cover photo: Vehicles belonging to forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi explode after an air strike by coalition forces, March 20, 2011. /Reuters Photo)