Tripoli: At least 13 people have been killed in fighting between armed groups in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, a spokesman for the city’s emergency services said.
Fighters exchanged fire in a central district where several government and international agencies, along with diplomatic missions, are based, and clashes spread to the areas of Ain Zara and Asbaa on Friday.
It was the latest escalation to threaten the relative peace after nearly a decade of civil war in Libya, where two rival sets of authorities are locked in a political stalemate. The divisions have sparked several incidents of violence in Tripoli in recent months.
Tripoli Ambulance and Emergency Services spokesperson Osama Ali said at least 13 people were dead and 27 others were injured as a result of the clashes. A spokesperson for the interior ministry said three of the dead were civilians.
The main sides involved were both affiliated to the Presidency Council, a three-person body acting as transitional head of state. They included the RADA force, an interior ministry spokesperson said.
Fighters from RADA, one of the most powerful forces in Tripoli, were visible around most central areas on Friday morning, while the main Presidency Council building was empty.
Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, replaced the interior minister in response to the clashes, his office said.
The violence first broke out the previous night in the Ain Zara region between units of the Presidential Council’s security force and RADA.
By midday on Friday, the situation was mostly calm in central Tripoli, where some vehicles were burned out and others pocked with bullet holes. –Agencies
