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TRIPOLI: Overnight clashes between rival armed groups in western Libya left four people dead and at least 10 wounded before an intervention by a neutral force put an end to the violence, security sources said on Tuesday.
The fighting had been between members of the Anti-Security Threat Agency — attached to Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, who heads the UN-recognised government in Tripoli — and the defence ministry’s 103rd Battalion, a local security official said.
Units of the 52nd Western Infantry Brigade “intervened as a peacekeeping force, with the agreement of both parties”, a military source from the brigade said. The troops are currently “deployed along the lines of contact in Sorman and at the administrative boundaries of Zawiya”, the source added, referring to coastal cities about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Tripoli.
Clashes between armed groups are a recurring issue in the regions of Sorman and Zawiya, where there is a large oil refinery. The area is at the heart of power struggles between armed groups engaged in organised crime including diesel smuggling and human trafficking.
