BENGHAZI, Libya — The head of the United Nations-backed Libyan government in the west says families displaced from their homes in Tawergha after a 2011 uprising will be allowed to return in February.

The decision, announced Tuesday by Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, follows a reconciliation deal between representatives of the town of Tawergha and the city of Misrata, which previously fought on opposing sides.

Tawergha was used as a staging ground for attacks on Misrata during the uprising that eventually toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gaddafi. Anti-Gadhafi militias, mainly from Misrata, drove out Tawergha's residents, believing its inhabitants had aided Gaddafi's forces.

Tawergha's residents have since been living in camps across Libya.

The country has descended into chaos since 2011 and is now split between rival governments and myriad militias.

Meanwhile, authorities in eastern Libya have announced a conference in March to drum up support to rebuild the country's second-largest city Benghazi heavily damaged during three years of fighting between military forces and Islamist fighters.

The announcement signals a desire to demonstrate a return to normality in the port, where top military commander Khalifa Haftar declared the end of a campaign to oust Islamist fighters in July.

Clashes have sporadically continued in some isolated areas, while life has returned in the rest of the city, though some districts were almost completely destroyed by shelling and air strikes.

A forum titled "International Conference and Exhibition for rebuilding Benghazi city" will be held from March 19-21, the organizers said in an invitation posted online, adding that a six-day exhibition would be held the same month.

Haftar is aligned with a government and parliament in eastern Libya which was listed as the conference's sponsor.

He has rejected a UN-backed government based in the capital, Tripoli, as he has gradually strengthened his position on the ground.

The United Nations has sought to bridge differences between the two sides, part of a conflict since Moammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011. Talks were suspended in October. — Agencies