Deadly clashes broke out on Saturday in Libya’s capital between militias backed by its two rival administrations, warning of a return to violence amid a long political stalemate.
At least 13 civilians were killed and more than 95 wounded, the health ministry said.
It added that 64 families were evacuated from areas around the fighting in Tripoli.
The escalation threatens to shatter the relative calm Libya has experienced for most of the past two years.
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The oil-rich nation country plunged into chaos following a Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed long-time autocrat Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Among the deaths was Mustafa Baraka, a comedian known for his social media videos mocking militias and corruption.
He died after being shot in the chest, according to Malek Merset, an emergency services spokesman.
Merset said emergency services were still trying to evacuate wounded and civilians trapped in the fighting that erupted overnight and continued into Saturday.
The health ministry said hospitals and medical centres in the city were shelled, and ambulance teams were barred from evacuating civilians, in acts that “amount to war crimes”.
The municipal council of Tripoli blamed the ruling political class for the deteriorating situation, and urged the international community to “protect civilians in Libya”.
The violence caused widespread panic among Tripoli residents.
Footage circulated online showed houses, government facilities, and vehicles apparently damaged from the fighting.
Other footage showed militia forces deploying and heavy fire being exchanged across the night sky.
The UN mission in Libya said the fighting involved “indiscriminate medium and heavy shelling in civilian-populated neighbourhoods” of Tripoli.
The mission called for an immediate ceasefire, and for all parties in Libya to “refrain from using any form of hate speech and incitement to violence”.
The clashes pitted the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigade militia, led by Haitham Tajouri, against another militia allied with Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, an infamous warlord known as Gheniwa, according to local media.
Later on Saturday, more militias joined the fighting which spread in different areas in the capital.
Prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s government, which is based in Tripoli, claimed the clashes broke out when one militia fired at another.
The fighting, however, is highly likely part of ongoing power struggle between Dbeibah and his rival prime minister Fathy Bashagha who is operating from the coast city of Sirte.
Both Dbeibah and Bashagha are backed by militias, and the latter was mobilising in recent weeks to try to enter Tripoli to dislodge his rival.
An attempt in May by Bashagha to install his government in Tripoli triggered clashes that ended with his withdrawal from the city. — AP