The clashes are the most intense to hit Tripoli this year. Some 150 people have been injured in the fighting, said the Center for Emergency Medicine and Support, a medical agency that is deployed during humanitarian disasters and wars.
According to the local press, clashes between the 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force broke out on Monday night. The clash came after Mahmoud Hamza, a commander of the 444th brigade was allegedly detained by the other force at an airport in Tripoli hours earlier on Monday, media reported.
On Wednesday, Libyan security forces patrolled the streets and fanned out across Tripoli. The Interior Ministry said security forces were deployed to areas where fighting was most intense, including the southern neighborhood of Fernaj and al-Shouk Road.
At the moment it is unknown how many of the deceased were combatants or civilians. The Red Crescent has not commented on the matter.
Throughout the clashes on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health asked the parties to the conflict to allow ambulances and emergency teams to enter the affected areas, especially in the south of the city. He also requested that blood be sent to nearby hospitals.
OPSGroup, an aviation industry chamber, said on Monday that a large number of planes left the capital due to the violence. Incoming trips were diverted to the nearby city of Misrata.
The escalation comes after several months of relative peace after a decade of civil war in Libya, where two rival authorities are locked in a political impasse. Various incidents of violence in Tripoli have generally ended within hours.
The UN Support Mission for Libya said in a statement that it was following with concern “the security incidents and developments” that began on Monday, and called for an immediate end to the clashes.
The oil-rich country has been divided between rival governments in the east and west, each supported by heavily armed militias and foreign governments, since 2014. The state of turmoil has persisted since a NATO-backed insurrection toppled and killed the dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
