East Libya government issues travel ban against Americans

East Libya's breakaway government banned all United States citizens from entering its borders on Wednesday, in retaliation for Washington's recent travel ban against Libyans.

The House of Representatives [HoR] based in Tobruk said the US travel ban, due to start on October 18, is a "dangerous escalation".

President Donald Trump's latest travel ban includes the suspension of all immigrant visas for nationals of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Yemen and Somalia.

The official announcement by the HoR said it affected all Libyans unfairly, as it "places every citizen in the same basket as the terrorists".

Read more: Libya - a country controlled by gangs of mobster militias

Since deposed dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in October 2011, the eastern HoR has battled for power with the UN-recognised central government in Tripoli.

This has led to a long and brutal civil war involving Islamic State fighters and an array of violent militias that has continued to this day.