Morethantwomillion people,including 600,000 children, who live inTripoli and surrounding towns and cities,are suffering fromwater cutsforalmostaweeknow.Thewater supply,part of theGreatMan-Made River,was disrupted by a group in theShwerifareaasa pressure tactic to secure the release of family members.All mediation effortsuntil nowdo not seem to have produced a resolution to the dispute while millions of Libyans remain deprived of water.

Water should never be used as a pressure card nor as a weapon of war.It is particularly reprehensible to deliberately cut off water supplies from people anywhere in Libya.

Thisdeplorablewater cut is coinciding with a serious power outage in the western region, also imposed as a result of another individual dispute.

At this moment when Libya is fighting the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to water and electricity is more than ever lifesaving, and such individual acts to collectively punish millions of innocent people are abhorrent and must stop immediately.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).