CAIRO: Clashes between two heavily armed militia groups in Libya's capital terrorized residents and killed about a dozen people, the latest outbreak of violence in the largely lawless North African country, officials said on Saturday.
The hours-long clashes, which involved the use of heavy weapons, occurred on Friday in the eastern Tajoura district of Tripoli between the Rahba Al-Duruae militia led by warlord Bashir Khalfallah – known as Al-Baqrah – and the other Al-Shahida Sabriya militia, the officials added.
The Health Ministry's rescue and emergency services said at least nine people were killed and 16 others injured in the hours-long clashes.
The clashes were sparked by an assassination attempt on Al-Baqrah on Friday. According to local media reports, his militia Al-Shahida Sabriya blamed the attack.
Khaled Al-Meshry, the newly elected head of the western-based High Council of State, condemned the assassination and called for an investigation to bring those responsible to justice.
The warring parties are allies with the government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, whose spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The UN mission in Libya on Saturday complained about the clashes, the use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas and the military build-up in and around the capital.
“These clashes remind us of the urgency of unifying the military and security apparatus and establishing legitimate and accountable institutions,” it said in a statement. “They also underscore the urgent need to accelerate an inclusive political process leading to credible elections.”
The violence underscored the fragility of war-torn Libya following the 2011 uprising that degenerated into civil war and toppled and later killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Amid the chaos, militias grew in wealth and power, particularly in Tripoli and the west of the country.
Libya has been divided for years between rival governments in the east and west, both backed by armed groups and foreign governments. The country is currently ruled by Dbeibah's government in Tripoli and the government of Prime Minister Ossama Hammad in the east.
Western Libya is controlled by a number of lawless militias allied with Dbeibah's government, while the forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Haftar control the east and south of the country.
Friday's militia fighting was the latest in a series of clashes between militias vying for influence in the west of the country.
In May, clashes between militias left families trapped in their homes in the coastal town of Zawiya, killing at least one person and injuring 22 others. And in August last year, 24 hours of fighting between rival militias in Tripoli left at least 45 people dead.
The clashes in the capital came as Haftar's forces said they had deployed troops to southwestern areas to secure Libya's southern borders. The deployment prompted militias in western Libya to mobilise as fears grow of a possible new war between eastern and western Libya.
The United Nations mission and Western embassies in Libya expressed concern that the military movement could escalate into open war between Haftar's forces and western-based militias, four years after a ceasefire ended a 14-month war between the two sides.
“Such movements pose the risk of escalation and violent confrontation and could jeopardise the 2020 ceasefire,” said a joint statement from the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and the USA.
