TRIPOLI (AFP) – Rival armed groups exchanged gunfire in the Libyan capital Saturday, killing at least two people and raising fears of all-out conflict in a country embroiled in a grave political crisis.
The fighting follows months of rising tensions between two administrations vying for control of the North African country and its vast oil resources, the latest configuration in a complex and often violent power struggle since the 2011 overthrow of dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
Small arms fire and explosions rocked several districts of Tripoli overnight and into Saturday, when smoke could be seen rising from damaged buildings.
The two rival administrations exchanged blame as videos posted online showed burned-out cars and buildings ridden with bullet holes, as well as a mosque and a health clinic on fire.
The UN’s Libya mission called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities”, citing “ongoing armed clashes including indiscriminate medium and heavy shelling in civilian-populated neighborhoods” that it said had damaged hospitals.
Oussama Ali, a spokesman for Tripoli’s ambulance service, told al-Ahrar television that an unknown number of civilians had been wounded but that his service was “having difficulties moving around”.
Local media reported fatalities but no official toll has been released.
News agency Lana said actor Mustafa Baraka had been killed in one of the neighborhoods hit by fighting, sparking anger and mourning on social media.
The Government of National Unity (GNU) of Abdulhamid Dbeibah said fighting had broken out after negotiations to avoid bloodshed in the western city collapsed.
Dbeibah’s government, installed as part of a United Nations-led peace process following a previous round of violence, is challenged by a rival government led by former interior minister Fathi Bashagha.