Libyan authorities said Wednesday that fighting between rival armed groups in the capital of Tripoli has flared up again, four months after a U.N.-brokered cease-fire.

Malek Merset, spokesman for the Tripoli-based Health Ministry, said at least five people were killed and 20 others wounded Wednesday.

A previous round of fighting, which erupted in August last year, killed at least 96 people, including civilians. The U.N. mission has warned against any breach of the cease-fire, brokered in September.

The fighting between militias allied to the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli and an armed group from a nearby town underscores Libya's lingering lawlessness since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Moammar Gadhafi.

Libya is governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the country's east, each of which is backed by an array of militias. </s> Two days of clashes between rival militias near Libya's capital Tripoli have left 10 people dead and 41 wounded, the health ministry said Thursday.

Fighting between armed groups erupted Wednesday despite a truce deal four months ago that had halted deadly battles in the city.

A medical source told AFP that fierce clashes hit an area some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Tripoli on Thursday, after fighting around an airport 25 kilometres from the capital the previous day.

The violence has pitted the Tripoli Protection Force, an alliance of militias from the city, against the Seventh Brigade group from the town of Tarhuna.

The health ministry said that there were women and children among the wounded.

Tripoli was plagued by militia clashes that killed at least 117 people and wounded more than 400 between late August and late September.

The United Nations mission in Libya on Wednesday condemned a "military mobilisation" in southern Tripoli and warned groups not to break a ceasefire agreement it brokered in September.

The Seventh Brigade has maintained its positions around Tripoli since the accord was reached, a move that has angered rival militias.

Libya has been torn between rival administrations and a myriad of militias since the overthrow and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

The main armed groups in Tripoli say they are loyal to the internationally backed Government of National Accord (GNA), but officials have struggled to exert real control over the fighters.

The GNA announced security reforms in the wake of the bloodshed last year, aimed at curbing the power of militias in the capital.

A rival administration in the east of Libya is backed by strongman Khalifa Haftar and his self-proclaimed Libyan National Army.

The UN is pushing for elections to help stabilise Libya, but chronic violence has delayed plans for the vote. </s> TRIPOLI: The death toll from clashes between rival militias in the Libyan capital Tripoli has risen to 10 killed and 41 wounded, the health ministry said on Thursday.

Fighting broke out this week between rival armed groups in the south of the capital, breaching a shaky ceasefire brokered by the United Nations in September which had ended four weeks of violence.

The ministry said women and children were also among the casualties.

Two residents told Reuters by phone that heavy gunfire had not ceased for 72 hours in Tripoli's southern suburb of Qaser Bin Ghashir, location of city's international airport which was destroyed in a previous bout of clashes in 2014.

The most recent fighting broke out between a coalition of Tripoli militias, known as the Tripoli Protection Force (TPF), and the 7th Brigade, or Kaniyat, from Tarhouna, a town 65 km (45 miles) southeast of Tripoli.

The Force said in a statement that it controlled Qaser Bin Qashir, posting on the internet pictures of masked fighters and armoured vehicles in the streets of the area.

Reuters was not able to verify this independently.

The 7th Brigade and some allied groups triggered the fighting last August in a bid to challenge the dominance of four “super militias”, including the Tripoli Protection Force, in the streets of the capital.

The internationally-recognised government in Tripoli, backed by the United Nations, has been working on a new security plan since the September ceasefire deal but achieved little.

Libya's streets have been controlled by armed groups since the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 rebellion backed by NATO air strikes. The country now has competing governments operating in the east and west. </s> BENGHAZI, Libya — Clashes are continuing for the second day among heavily-armed militias in the Libyan capital Tripoli in what appears to be the worst outbreak of violence there in two years.

Witnesses on Friday say gun battles are rocking the southeastern Nasr Forest district and adjacent between militias vying for power and control over the city.

The clashes started on Thursday and reportedly left eight dead. During a lull of violence late Thursday night, panicked residents lined up in front of area gas stations.

Tripoli has been held hostage by various unruly militias since Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's ruler for 42 years, was ousted and killed in 2011. </s> TRIPOLI (Reuters) - At least 16 people died and 50 were wounded in Libya in four days of clashes between rival factions in the southern city of Sabha, a health official said on Sunday.

According to residents and local reports, the latest bout of violence erupted between two tribes after an incident in which a monkey that belonged to a shopkeeper from the Gaddadfa tribe attacked a group of schoolgirls who were passing by.

The monkey pulled off one of the girls’ head scarf, leading men from the Awlad Suleiman tribe to retaliate by killing three people from the Gaddadfa tribe as well as the monkey, according to a resident who spoke to Reuters.

City officials could not be reached to confirm the accounts.

“There was an escalation on the second and third days with the use of tanks, mortars and other heavy weapons,” the resident told Reuters by telephone, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the denigrating security situation.

“There are still sporadic clashes and life is completely shut down in the areas where there has been fighting.”

Like other parts of Libya, Sabha has been periodically plagued by conflict since the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi five years ago splintered the country into warring factions.

In the Sabha region, a hub for migrant and arms smuggling in Libya’s often neglected south, militia abuses and the deterioration of living conditions have been especially acute.

The Gaddadfa and the Awlad Suleiman represent the most powerful armed factions in the region.

During the latest clashes, which took place in the city center, initial attempts by tribal leaders to calm the fighting and arrange a ceasefire so that bodies could be recovered had failed, residents said.

By Sunday, Sabha Medical Centre had received the bodies of 16 people killed in the clashes and some 50 wounded, said a spokesman for the center.

“There are women and children among the wounded and some foreigners from sub-Saharan African countries among those killed due to indiscriminate shelling,” he said.

The city lies about 660km (410 miles) south of Tripoli. </s> Benghazi - Rival militias have clashed in neighbourhoods across the Libyan capital of Tripoli, and the state-run Lana news agency says at least eight militiamen have been killed.

The clashes sent tanks and convoys of armed militiamen streaming into the streets.

The sides are split between rival militias vying for control of the city: One has its origins in Tripoli, while the other side is led by forces originally from the western city of Misrata and has Islamist leanings.

Pictures posted on social media showed masked armed men on pick-up trucks in the streets in Tripoli.

Libya sank into lawlessness and divisions after the downfall of the longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. </s> Five years after Libya's 2011 revolution, the country is embroiled in violence and political chaos as militias and two rival governments vie for power (AFP Photo/MAHMUD TURKIA)

Tripoli (AFP) - Rival militias clashed in Tripoli leaving at least seven people dead, Libyan media said, as AFP journalists reported hearing gunshots and explosions in the south of the capital.

Tanks, trucks and heavy weapons were seen on the streets but the cause of the conflict was not immediately clear.

It was not immediately possible to confirm the death toll.

Tripoli is controlled by a loose alliance of militias of different political and religious factions, and clashes between them are an almost daily occurrence.

Five years after Libya's 2011 revolution that toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, the country is embroiled in violence and political chaos as the militias and two rival governments vie for power.

A UN-backed Government of National Accord took up office in March with the hopes of re-establishing central power and stemming a jihadist threat from the Islamic State group.

It was intended to replace the rival administrations but has failed to win a vote of confidence from the parliament in Tobruk while the Tripoli-based GNA considers it illegitimate.

The GNA suffered a fresh setback in October after the rival Government of National Salvation seized key offices in the capital. </s> At least two people have been killed in clashes between rival militias in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

The fighting on Wednesday violated a UN-brokered ceasefire which was signed four months ago.

"The clashes resulted in two killed and 17 wounded from both civilians and fighters," Tripoli health department official Malik Marsit told Reuters news agency.

The groups involved in the clashes are known as the Seventh Brigade, or Kaniyat, and a collection of factions called Tripoli Protection Force.

The Seventh Brigade and some allied groups triggered the August fighting in a bid to challenge the dominance of four "super militias", including the Tripoli Protection Force, in the streets of the capital.

The UN mission in Libya condemned the renewed fighting in an official statement on Twitter, adding that it "warns parties against any breach of the ceasefire agreement, compromising stability in the capital & endangering lives of civilians & their properties".

"The mission stresses that any party initiating a confrontation will be held fully responsible," it added.

The internationally recognised government in Tripoli, backed by the United Nations, has been working on a new security plan since the ceasefire deal but achieved little as Libya, long a major oil producer, lacks a national police force or army.

During the clashes in September, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) described the situation in the north African country as "desperate", with the fighting, collapsed economy and destruction of infrastructure leaving hundreds of thousands of people "increasingly vulnerable".

"Seven years of war in Libya has driven over 500,000 people to flee their homes," the ICRC said in a tweet.

"For Libyans trying to return home, there's not always much to return to. Houses, schools are often destroyed completely."

The group also cited the sabotaging of health facilities, water and electricity supplies, as well as the dangers of unexploded remnants. </s> TRIPOLI: Rival militias clashed in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Wednesday and at least two people were killed, medics said, splintering a four-month-old, U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

Armoured vehicles could be seen in southern Tripoli where militia groups had fought for a month until September, part of the widespread factional conflict plaguing Libya since the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

A United Nations-engineered ceasefire agreed then had managed to hold for the most part until now.

But on Wednesday a militia known as the 7th Brigade, or Kaniyat, and a collection of factions called Tripoli Protection Force fell back into fighting in the same southern district.

"The clashes resulted in two killed and 17 wounded from both civilians and fighters," Tripoli health department official Malik Marsit said. Some casualties had not yet been accounted for due to lack of safe access to the area, he added.

The 7th Brigade and some allied groups triggered the August fighting in a bid to challenge the dominance of four "super militias", including the Tripoli Protection Force, in the streets of the capital.

The U.N. mission in Libya warned in a statement against any breach of the ceasefire deal. "Any party initiating a confrontation will be held fully responsible," it said.

The internationally-recognised government in Tripoli, backed by the United Nations, has been working on a new security plan since the ceasefire deal but achieved little as Libya, long a major oil producer, lacks a national police force or army.
Five people are killed and twenty are wounded in clashes between rival militias in Tripoli, breaking several months of relative peace.