Clashes between two heavily armed militia groups in Libya's capital terrorized residents and killed about a dozen people, the latest bout of violence in the North African nation, officials said Saturday.
The hours-long clashes, which involved heavy weapons, occurred Friday in Tripoli’s eastern neighborhood of Tajoura between Rahba al-Duruae militia, which is led by warlord Bashir Khalfallah — known as al-Baqrah — and another militia al-Shahida Sabriya, the officials added.
The Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency Services said at least 9 people were killed and 16 others were wounded in the hours-long clashes.
The clashes stemmed from an attempted assassination of al-Baqrah on Friday, which his militia blamed on al-Shahida Sabriya, according to local media reports.
Khalid al-Mishri, the newly-elected head of the west-based High Council of State, condemned the assassination attempt and called for an investigation to hold those responsible accountable.
The warring parties are allied with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s government. Its spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The violence underscored the fragility of war-torn Libya following the 2011 uprising-turned-civil war, which toppled and later killed longtime ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi. Amid the chaos, militias grew in wealth and power, particularly in Tripoli and the western part of the country.
Friday’s militia infighting was the latest in a series of clashes between militias competing for influence in the country’s west.
In May, militia clashes rocked the coastal town of Zawiya, trapping families for houses inside their homes, killing at least one person and wounding 22 others. And in August last year, a 24-hour period of fighting between rival militias in Tripoli killed at least 45 people.
The capital’s clashes came as the Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar, said it deployed troops to the southwestern areas to secure Libya’s southern borders. The deployment prompted militias in western Libya to mobilize amid mounting concerns of a potential new war between east and west Libya.
The United Nations' mission and Western embassies in Libya expressed their concerns that the military movement could explode into an all-out war between the LNA and the West-based militias, four years after a ceasefire deal ended a 14-month war between the two sides.
“Such movements risk escalation and violent confrontation and could put the 2020 ceasefire at risk,” said a joint statement by the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US.
