Armed groups in the North African country of Libya have killed hundreds of civilians since August and have forced at least 120,000 to internally displace, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
The U.N. also warned commanders that they could be held responsible for war crimes such as executions and torture.
"From late August until early October, Libya Dawn forces launched a major operation against Warshafana armed groups. Both sides reportedly engaged in indiscriminate shelling. The number of civilian casualties is difficult to establish as Libyan hospitals or local bodies do not generally distinguish between fighters and civilians when producing their casualty figures," the report said.
"However, UNSMIL received copies of dozens of forensic reports of deaths due to shelling or gunshots, including those of two women and a 4-year-old child, and estimates that around 100 persons were killed and 500 injured."
Libya has been embroiled in fighting between several rebel groups who previously fought side by side to topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Those groups have now turned on each other as they battle for political power and a cut of oil revenues.
Two separate governments have been operating in the country since August when the Libya Dawn group took Tripoli and forced the internationally recognized regime out of the capital, reported Reuters.
An additional 170-plus people were reportedly killed by the end of November, with hundreds more injured and more than 5,700 families displaced. Since fighting escalated in Benghazi in mid-October some 450 people have reportedly been killed, according to the U.N.
"As a commander of an armed group, you are criminally liable under international law if you commit or order the commission of grave human rights abuses or fail to take reasonable and necessary measures to prevent or punish their commission," said U.N. Human Rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani, reported Voice of America.
"There is a serious lack of law and order. There is absolutely no accountability, so these violations are continuing with impunity and there has been no effort to really stop that."
U.N. officials said on Tuesday that a new round of peace talks between rebel groups will begin on Jan. 5, 2015, AFP reported.
