“The chief of staff has no control over the town and therefore armed men are able to prevent families from coming back”, the minister was quoted as saying by AFP on Monday.

Juwaili said the hilltop town was near-deserted as a result of the fighting and that the small number of people who remain are living in dire conditions.

In his first public statement on Bani Walid, Juwaili claimed that as many as 30,000 people had been displaced by the conflict out of a town reckoned to be home to some 80,000 residents, AFP reported.

Fighting in Bani Walid this month displaced tens of thousands of people, Jueili noted, including 30,000 who fled to the nearby town of Tarhuna and 10,000 who went to the capital.

Bani Walid, 185 kilometres (115 miles) southeast of Tripoli, was one of the last towns to fall to NATO-backed rebels in the 2011 conflict that toppled and killed Gaddafi.

The current violence began in early July, when unknown people from Bani Walid reportedly abducted two journalists from Misrata. Armed groups from Misrata went to retrieve the journalists, one of whom was Omran Shaban, who was credited with discovering Gaddafi in a drainpipe in Sirte one year ago. Shaban was reportedly shot and detained in Bani Walid, along with another man. The two men were released two months later, on September 13, after a negotiated deal. Shaban was then flown to France for medical care but he died there on September 25. Reports circulated that he was tortured in custody – reports that Bani Walid leaders deny.

On the day of Shaban’s death, Libya’s newly elected parliament, the General National Congress, passed Resolution No. 7, which authorized the Interior and Defense Ministries to “use all their powers” to apprehend Shaban’s alleged killers, as well as other people in Bani Walid suspected of crimes committed before and during the 2011 conflict. Government forces and aligned armed groups, mostly from Misrata, surrounded the town. The armed groups are under the umbrella of Libya Shield – a grouping aligned with the Defense Ministry.

Bani Walid and Misrata have a history of antagonistic relations.

Clashes between pro-government forces and Bani Walid fighters this month killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds, escalating tribal tensions and highlighting the difficulties of achieving reconciliation.

“In the interests of national reconciliation and long-term stability of the country, a mediated settlement is urgently needed,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Tarek Mitri, said in a news statement, in regard to events in Bani Walid, located some 170 kilometres south of the capital, Tripoli.

According to media reports, Libyan army forces have launched a full-scale assault against the town, accusing it of being controlled by supporters of the former dictator Muammar al-Qadhafi, who was overthrown in 2011 after decades of autocratic rule.

The small city was one of the last to fall to rebels groups during last year’s conflict, and some are said to consider it a shelter for regime loyalists and criminal gangs. Fierce fighting has reportedly raged in the town for two days.

In addition to his concern over the military developments in Bani Walid, Mr. Mitri also spoke of his concern over growing civilian casualties resulting from reported indiscriminate shelling.

He urged all concerned to abide by international humanitarian principles, noting “their obligations to ensure the protection of civilians and take all necessary measures to avoid the targeting of civilian areas, allow for the evacuation of all wounded, and to provide unimpeded humanitarian access, including provision of food and medical care.”

Furthermore, in light of the publicly stated positions, the United Nations remains fully convinced that a comprehensive peaceful outcome is achievable, the statement noted.

This, it added, includes the right of the State to fully assert its national authority over the city of Bani Walid through the deployment of units from the national army and police; the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees who continue to be held inside Bani Walid; the handover to the judicial authorities of all those wanted on suspicion of having committed crimes, along with guarantees for their security and fair trial; the resumption of all basic services to the city; and, the holding of local elections in due course.”

Mr. Mitri emphasized, according to UNSMIL, the role and responsibility of the State in ensuring the security of all and extending its authority over its territory.

Incidents of renewed fighting in various parts of the country are among the security challenges facing the North African nation, which also needs to prepare a new constitution, promote rule of law, protect human rights, and counter illicit arms proliferation.

UNSMIL has been assisting the country’s transition toward a modern democratic State, after the toppling of the long-standing al-Qadhafi regime.

The UN envoy also praised the “huge efforts exerted by President Mohammad al-Magariaf, the General National Congress, as well as by civil society representatives and reconciliation committees, to prevent an outbreak of armed hostilities, and later, through political means, to put an end to various forms of violence.”

In addition, Mr. Mitri reaffirmed the world body’s readiness and commitment to work closely with all concerned to achieve a peaceful outcome to the violence.