Libya armed group leader among six killed in Tripoli clashes
AFP reporters heard heavy arms fire and explosions in several areas of the capital Tripoli from 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Monday as violent clashes between rival armed groups rocked the city.
"Six bodies have been retrieved from the sites of clashes around Abu Salim" in Tripoli, the Emergency Medicine and Support Centre said.
Libya's Al-Ahrar television and Al-Wasat news website said that Abdelghani al-Kikli, leader of the Support and Stability Apparatus, was killed.
The reports said he was likely ambushed in Abu Salim, a southern district of the capital where his influential armed group is based.
Authorities had urged residents to stay indoors before saying several hours later that the fighting had been brought under control.
Local media said clashes broke out in the southern suburbs between armed groups from Tripoli and rivals from Misrata, a major port city 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of the capital.
Libya is struggling to recover from years of unrest following the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow and killing of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The North African country is currently divided between a UN-recognised government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east, controlled by the Haftar family.
The Tripoli-based government announced in a statement early Tuesday that a "military operation" to restore "security and stability" in the capital had been successful.
Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, in a post on social media platform X, thanked government forces "for restoring security and asserting the state's authority in the capital."
"What was accomplished today shows that official institutions are capable of protecting the homeland and preserving the dignity of its citizens," Dbeibah said.
He hailed the security forces' actions as "a decisive step" in the fight against "irregular" armed factions.
Despite relative calm in recent years, clashes periodically break out between armed groups vying for territory. In August 2023, fighting between two powerful armed groups in Tripoli left 55 dead.
Several districts of the capital and its suburbs announced that schools would be closed on Tuesday until further notice.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya called for calm.
"UNSMIL is alarmed by the unfolding security situation in Tripoli, with intense fighting with heavy weaponry in densely populated civilian areas," it said on X.
It urged "all parties to immediately cease fighting", warning that "attacks on civilians and civilian objects may amount to war crimes."
"UNSMIL fully supports the efforts of elders and community leaders to de-escalate the situation."
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