Smoke rises amid clashes between armed factions, in Tripoli, Libya August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Hani Amara
TRIPOLI (Reuters) -Two of the Libyan capital's most powerful armed factions battled across the city on Tuesday, stranding civilians in their homes and raising fears that Tripoli's worst violence this year could escalate.
The death toll from the clashes remains unclear but a medical unit linked to the Defence Ministry said it had recovered three bodies from Furnaj, Ain Zara and Tarik Shok districts.
The Health Ministry appealed to citizens to donate blood to help casualties. Usama Ali, a spokesperson for the ambulance service, said 19 people had been injured and 26 families evacuated from a strife-hit district.
Dark smoke hung over parts of the city and the sound of heavy weapons rattled through the streets, a Reuters journalist in Tripoli said. Residents and local media reported fighting in different suburbs during the day.
The U.N. envoy to Libya called for an immediate end to the violence.
The clashes between the 444 Brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, which both backed the interim Government of National Unity (GNU) during brief battles last year, shatter months of relative calm in Tripoli.
Libya has had little peace or security since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising and it split in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions.
An assault by eastern forces on Tripoli, in the west, collapsed in 2020 leading to a ceasefire that has halted most major warfare. Turkey, which backed the Tripoli government, maintained a military presence in Libya.
However, there has been little progress towards a lasting political solution to the conflict and on the ground armed factions that have gained official status and financing continue to wield power.
Last year factions backing a rival government declared by the eastern-based parliament launched a doomed attempt to oust Dbeibah, leading to a day of heavy clashes in Tripoli. Sporadic fighting has also this year rocked the city of Zawiya, west of the capital.
CROSSHEAD
On Monday the Special Deterrence Force, which controls the capital's Mitiga airport, seized 444 Brigade commander Mahmoud Hamza as he attempted to travel, a source in the brigade said.
In the following hours, both factions mobilised around the capital and fighting broke out in the evening.
The Special Deterrence Force has been one of Tripoli's main armed factions for years, holding Mitiga and the surrounding coastal area, including a stretch of the main road to the east.
The 444 Brigade controls large swathes of the capital and areas south of Tripoli. Hamza, a former officer in the Special Deterrence Force, has previously been a key figure in mediating an end to tension between other armed factions.
Another significant Tripoli armed faction, the Stabilisation Support Apparatus, had fighters and vehicles out on the street in areas it controls, but was not involved in the clashes, a Reuters witness said.
A resident of the Tarik Shok area of southern Tripoli said he could hear fighting when he went to bed at 1:30 a.m. and more strongly when he woke up at 7:30 a.m.
"We can hear heavy gunfire since early morning. My family lives in the Khalat Furjan area about 7 km (4 miles) away and they also hear clashes," he said.
Some of the fighting erupted around Mitiga airport, continuing there into Tuesday morning, residents said. Flights were diverted from the airport to Misrata, a city about 180 km (110 miles) east of Tripoli, airlines and airport sources said.
A Turkish defence ministry official said on Tuesday afternoon that "the situation calmed down" in Tripoli and there were no problems regarding the security of Turkish troops. Mitiga hosts a Turkish military presence, diplomats say.
By Tuesday afternoon, fighting was clearly audible in some central Tripoli districts that had been quieter overnight and during the morning, with a loud explosion and exchanges of gunfire, a Reuters witness said.
(Reporting by Reuters Libya newsroom, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Angus MacSwan and Nick Macfie)
