At least 23 people have died and 140 been injured in violent clashes between rival Libyan militias across the country's capital of Tripoli, the Libyan Ministry of Health said Saturday.
Intense fighting erupted in the capital overnight as rival factions exchanged intense gunfire and several loud explosions resounded across the city. Pictures and videos circulating on social media show the extent of the clashes with dozens of buildings, including residential ones, destroyed and several cars smashed and burned.
The UN-backed Government of National Unity (GNU) said on its official Facebook page the clashes "were triggered by a military group firing randomly at a convoy passing in the Zawia Street area, while armed groups were gathering at the 27th gate west of Tripoli and the Jebs Gate south of Tripoli."
Libya has been split between warring factions since 2014, following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Moammar Gadhafi.
The country's interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, the head of the GNU, is based in Tripoli in the western part of Libya. The parliament building in Tobruk in the east of the country is the seat of a rival government led by Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha.
Bashagha has been trying to enter and take over Tripoli as he claims the GNU is illegal and should step aside. The GNU has refused and claimed power should be handed peacefully through elections, not force.
The municipality of Tripoli held both the UN-recognized Government of National Accord and the Libyan National Army responsible for the deteriorating situation in the capital, according to Libyan News Agency LANA.
It also called on the international community to protect civilians, LANA reported.
CNN