Photo: Collected
A year after flooding in eastern Libya killed thousands and razed entire neighbourhoods, reconstruction is allowing military strongman Khalifa Haftar to wield further power in the divided country, experts say.
On September 10, 2023, extreme rainfall from the hurricane-strength Storm Daniel caused two dams to burst in the coastal city of Derna, some 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) east of the capital Tripoli.
This led to flooding that killed nearly 4,000 people, left thousands missing and displaced more than 40,000 others, according to the United Nations.
The tragedy sent shockwaves across the oil-rich North African country, casting a harsh light on Libya's crumbling infrastructure and the dysfunction among its divided rulers, and sparking angry demands for accountability.
Libya is still grappling with the aftermath of the armed conflict andpolitical chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
The country is now divided between an internationally recognised Tripoli- based government in the west, led by interim Prime Minister AbdulhamidDbeibah, and a rival administration in the east backed by Haftar.
Derna, once home to around 120,000 inhabitants, has become a vast construction site, where homes, schools, roads and bridges are being rebuilt.
But the massive reconstruction effort is underway without any oversight fromthe authorities in Tripoli.
Messenger/Disha
