Fresh gunbattles have erupted in the Libyan capital between two powerful armed groups, a security official said Wednesday — just a day after authorities declared the fighting over.
Clashes flared between the Radaa force and the 444 Brigade in key areas of Tripoli, including the port, the source said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The official described the fighting as ‘urban warfare’, with intermittent clashes in residential areas involving light and medium weapons.
In other areas, heavy weapons were being used to target rival positions.
Libya has struggled to recover from years of unrest since the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled and killed long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The country remains split between a UN-recognised government in Tripoli, led by prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east, controlled by the Haftar family.
On Monday night, heavy arms fire and explosions rocked several Tripoli districts, killing at least six people, according to authorities.
Reports said Abdelghani al-Kikli, leader of the Support and Stability Apparatus which controls the southern district of Abu Salim, had also been killed at a facility controlled by the 444 Brigade.
Fighting now extended in southern and western Tripoli as Radaa and ‘groups supporting it came as reinforcements against the 444 Brigade’, the interior ministry source said.
Another source said groups were moving into the capital from neighbouring Zawiya in support of Radaa.
The 444 Brigade controls parts of southern Tripoli and is aligned with Dbeibah, whereas Radaa controls parts in the capital’s east and holds several key state facilities.
On Tuesday, the Tripoli-based government said the fighting had been brought under control, and Dbeibah announced a string of executive orders including dissolving Radaa.
Dbeibah also said authorities were seizing or dissolving some bodies previously run by Tripoli armed groups other than the 444 Brigade.
The United Nations mission in Libya said it was ‘deeply alarmed by escalating violence in densely populated neighbourhoods of Tripoli for the second night in a row’.
In a statement, it called for ‘an immediate, unconditional ceasefire in all areas, allowing safe corridors for the evacuation of civilians trapped in intense conflict zones’.