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Libya: Humanitarian Conditions Continue to Deteriorate this Ramadan

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Libya, Humanitarian Response, Politics, War & Conflict

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011 [1].

Libyans continue to suffer from dire humanitarian conditions as the war in their country rages this Ramadan. From food to water to fuel and power shortages, to burying their dead and the lack of reliable information on what is happening in their own backyard, this month of fasting is proving to be a hard one.

Breaking the fast by candle light in Libya

From Facebook, ChangeInLibya shares the following photograph [2] showing a Libyan family breaking its fast this Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, in the dark.

@ChangeInLibya [3]: Tripoli's blackouts… people trying to cook food and break their Ramadan fast without electricity #libya http://fb.me/1clc8E4RH

Lebeeya confirms:

@Lebeeya [4]: Electricity out for 3 straight days in Al Saraj RT @live2Tripoli: #Tripoli: Power outages are reaching 8 hours long and are sporadic.

Mohamed Sharif Arouk tweets [ar]:

اهل طرابلس يعيشون وضع مأساوي لا كهرباء ولا ماء(المنازل التي تستعمل المضخات) ولاهواتف ولا بنزين ولا ديزل والأخبار… http://fb.me/15OqHJQZD
@MohdSharifArouk [5]: The people of Tripoli continue to live in catastrophic conditions: no electricity water (in houses which use pumps), no phones, no fuel, no diesel, and no news

Bent Benghazi (Daughter of Benghazi) adds:

@BentBenghazi [6]: Water and Electricity cut off in #Zawiya #libya #feb17 #gaddaficrimes

And Ivan Watson, CNN‘s reporter in Tripoli, tweets:

@IvanCNN [7]: Saw entire neighborhoods in central #Tripoli, pitch black without electricity. People eating iftar dinners by candlelight. Spooky. #Libya


@IvanCNN
: Power outages in #Rixos Hotel, mandatory home in #Tripoli for most visiting journalists [we need permission to set foot outside]. 1st time.

Meanwhile, The Libyan One reminds us:

@TheLibyan1 [8]: Just because the people can't fill their tanks doesn't mean Gaddafi can't fill his.

And bint_tarhouna asks:

@bint_tarhouna [9]: So Gaddafi was selling gasoline abroad when my family in Tripoli spent most of the past week w/ less than 3 hrs of electricity daily #Libya

If the power outages and lack of water and fuel was not enough, homes are being bombarded this Ramadan.

17022011libya shares the following video [10] on YouTube, which shows a damaged home in Jalu, which was allegedly bombed by Gaddafi's troops:

Displaced Libyan shares some of the tragedies she had had to go through since the war started in her country. She notes:

@DisplacedLibyan [11]: 6 months of #Libya war and I lost 4 family members and hundreds of neighbours, not counting people in prison

@DisplacedLibyan [12]: 6 months into #Libya war and I have already been displaced in 3 cities

@DisplacedLibyan [13]: 6 months of #Libya war and there are still some supposed friends on Facebook on insists on endangering your life with insensitive questions

Danya B Mohammed wonders:

@ceoDanya [14]: Wondering how many mother's have lost their sons, how many sister's lost their brother's &how many wives lost their husbands. #GaddafiCrimes

And last but not least, Noon Arabia, from Yemen, shares a prayer for both the people of Libya and Syria.

@NoonArabia [15]: God bless Libyans who are on the front lines fighting for freedom in #Libya & Syrians in #Syria's cities under terror and fasting #Ramadan

This post is part of our special coverage Libya Uprising 2011 [1].