TRIPOLI, Libya
Fresh gunbattles erupted on Wednesday in the Libyan capital between two powerful armed groups, a security official said, a day after authorities declared the fighting over.
Clashes flared between the
Radaa force and the 444 Brigade in key areas of the city, including the port,
the source said.
Fighting eased towards the end
of the day, according to television reports and residents who spoke to AFP,
with some bakeries opening but schools remaining shut.
No official casualty figures
were released, but the Libyan Red Crescent said it had recovered a dead body
from a major street in Tripoli.
On Monday night, heavy arms
fire and explosions rocked several Tripoli districts, killing at least six
people, according to authorities.
The official described the
fighting as "urban warfare", with clashes in
residential areas involving light and medium weapons. In other areas, heavy
weapons were used.
Libya has struggled to recover
from the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime leader
Moamer Kadhafi.
The country remains split
between a UN-recognised government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid
Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east, controlled by the Haftar
family.
The 444 Brigade controls parts
of southern Tripoli and is aligned with Dbeibah. Radaa controls parts in the
capital's east and holds several key state facilities.
Fighting extended in southern
and western Tripoli as Radaa brought in reinforcements to fight the 444
Brigade, an interior ministry source said.
More than 500 people on
Wednesday rallied in the Souq el-Joumaa neighbourhood, a Radaa stronghold,
chanting slogans against the Dbeibah government and denouncing the proposed
dissolution of the 444 Brigade.
Reports said Abdelghani
al-Kikli, leader of the Support and Stability Apparatus which controls the
southern district of Abu Salim, was killed this week at a facility controlled
by the 444 Brigade.
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