TRIPOLI, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- A European Union official Friday called on Libya's rival parties to accept a humanitarian truce proposed by the United Nations as Eid al-Adha draws near.
"Alan Bugeja, head of the European Union Delegation in Libya, ... appeals to the parties of the war to embrace the truce which Special Representative (Ghassan) Salame is working to secure in the spirit of this holy occasion," the EU delegation said in a statement.
A day earlier, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) called for a humanitarian truce between the rival parties in the capital Tripoli.
"The UNSMIL calls on all parties to accept a humanitarian truce on the occasion of Eid al-Adha," which begins on Sunday, the UNSMIL said in a statement.
"The Mission hopes to receive written approvals from these parties no later than midnight Friday this week," it added.
Since early April, the UN-backed government has been engaged in a deadly armed conflict against the east-based army which is trying to take over the capital Tripoli.
The fighting so far has killed more than 1,000 people, injured more than 5,700 others, and forced more than 120,000 to flee their homes, according to the World Health Organization.
The army is allied with the east-based government, as the North African nation is politically divided between eastern and western governments.
Libya has been suffering escalating violence and political instability ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.