A UN-brokered ceasefire in Libya seems to be holding for now, but the city was “on the brink of an all-out-war” before the agreement was signed earlier this week, according to the United Nations’ envoy to the war torn North African country.

Earlier this week it was reported that Maltese citizens in Libya had asked the government to be evacuated as clashes between rival militias intensified in Tripoli.

The Maltese Foreign Affairs Ministry said all Maltese in Libya were safe and the government was closely monitoring the situation. Maltese nationals are still being advised not to travel to Libya for the time being.

On Tuesday, Libyan authorities said more than a week of heavy fighting in the capital had come to a halt after the U.N. announced a cease-fire between the warring militias.

The fighting between militias allied to the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli and an armed group from a nearby town killed at least 63 people, and underscored the country's lingering lawlessness more than seven years after the uprising that toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi.

Interior Minister Abdelsalam Ashour said Wednesday that all parties on the ground have welcomed the cease-fire, which was announced Tuesday, and that "new security measures" will be taken.

Health Minister Omar Bashir says 63 people have been killed and 159 wounded, including civilians, since the clashes began on Aug. 26. He says another 12 people are still missing.

Libya also said it would reopen the capital's only functioning airport – Mitiga International. Fligths were expected to resume yesterday.

ISIS expanding operations in Libya

The ceasefire, although fragile, was holding until yesterday, but the UN envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame, warned the Security Council on Wednesday that the Islamic State extremist group is expanding its operations and Libya could become a refuge for terrorist groups of all persuasions.

He told the council that "the status quo in Libya is untenable."

He urged council members to help address the "looming threat" from the spread of extremist groups, and support economic reforms and efforts to advance the political process and move toward national elections.

Salame said violence that consumed the capital starting 26 August “shattered the facade of calm that had prevailed in Tripoli since May 2017."

Tanks and heavy artillery were deployed in residential neighborhoods leaving many dead and injured, many of them civilians including children, he said.

Tripoli was "on the brink of all-out war" until the UN brokered the fragile cease-fire between the major parties, which it is now trying to help take root as a first step toward peace, he said.

"This crisis is but the latest in a series of crises that have engulfed Libya," Salame stressed.

He pointed to events in Libya's oil-rich crescent in June and July that "effectively threatened to split the country," the Islamic State's expanding presence and operations, and over 1,000 Chadian government and opposition forces fighting in recent weeks from bases in southern Libya.

This risks "the south becoming a regional battleground and safe haven for foreign armed groups," he said.

Salame also pointed to hunger strikes in eastern and western Libya by refugees and asylum seekers in detention centers protesting their bleak living conditions. According to reports, hundreds of migrants escaped from a detention centre that was caught In the middle of a shootout.

On an upbeat note, he said, "In crisis lies the opportunity to tackle the underlying causes. To restore stability to Libya there is a strong and urgent need to establish strong and unified civilian and military institutions which work for the benefit of all citizens.”

Armed groups threat to forming new government

 In May, Fayez Serraj, prime minister of the UN-backed government in Tripoli, and Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter, commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army in the east, agreed on a roadmap aimed at restoring order in the country. It calls for parliamentary and presidential elections, scheduled for 10 December.

But UN experts said in a report last month that "predatory behavior" by armed groups in Libya posed a direct threat to forming a national government and ending lawlessness that has fueled Islamic militancy, human trafficking and instability in the wider region.

Salame told the Security Council that "for national elections to take place a number of conditions must be met" which "will require great efforts to achieve — but they are achievable."

He was highly critical of the House of Representatives which has failed to deliver on promised legislation for a referendum and elections.

"They simply have no intention of relinquishing their positions," Salame said. "They have put in place legal provisions to maintain their authority in perpetuity. ... And for the personal ambitions of a few, all Libyan citizens have paid a steep price."