Concern over the fighting and disruption of telecommunications in Benghazi, Libya’s second most populous city, the UN expressed today.

The telecommunications network has been down since last Friday, when clashes broke out in the Salmani district between forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar and once team, loyal to a rivalColonel al-Mahdi al-Barghati.

Haftar has controlled eastern Libya for the past few years while Barghati has returned to Benghazi after years in exile, according to local media and information posted on social networking sites.

Al-Bhargati and several people close to him, described by media close to Haftar as a “core of saboteurs”, were arrested and taken to an undisclosed location.

This information has not been independently verified.

The unrest comes about a month after devastating floods killed 4,000 people in eastern Libya, particularly in the city of Derna, sparking anger among residents.

In its statement, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (MANUL) expresses “concern about the armed conflicts in Benghazi” reminding that “all sides must protect civilians”, as unconfirmed information speaks of casualties among the city’s residents.

Authorities in eastern Libya should also “immediately restore telecommunications in Benghazi, which were cut when the fighting began.”

After the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya has been ruled by two rival administrations: one in Tripoli, under Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeiba, which is internationally recognized, and the other in eastern Libya, where the parliament is based and supported by Marshal Haftar. Dbeiba today asked the attorney general to conduct a “full investigation” into the events in Benghazi to hold accountable “those who endanger civilian life and social peace.” He also denounced “armed clashes in one district” and “the deliberate and complete disruption of communications (…) that isolates Libya’s second-largest city from the rest of the world.”