BENGHAZI, LIBYA (AP) – Clashes between competing militias in Libya’s capital on Friday killed at least 13 people, despite calls for calm after violence first broke out the previous night, a spokesman for Tripoli’s emergency services said.
It was the latest escalation to threaten the relative peace after nearly a decade of civil war in Libya, where two rival sets of authorities are locked in a political stalemate. The divisions have sparked several incidents of violence in Tripoli in recent months, but most have been over in a matter of hours.
According to Osama Ali, the emergency services spokesman, among those killed since the fighting started late Thursday were three civilians from the area and a 12-year-old child. He also said 30 people had been wounded.
Earlier in the day, one of Libya’s rival governments had called on militias to stop the fighting, which forced hundreds of people to flee the area.
The Libyan Presidential Council, based in Tripoli, said all forces involved in the clashes should go back to their bases immediately.
