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, Libya — Activists and medics say tribal clashes that erupted in southern Libya after three young men turned a pet monkey loose on a high school girl have killed at least 20 people.

The girl's family sought revenge after the monkey scratched and bit her last week, and killed all three men along with the animal.

Bader al-Daheli, a civil activist, said Sunday that the two main tribes in the southern city of Sabha, Awlad Suleiman and Gadhadhfa, are each backed by armed groups. Abdel-Rahman Areish, the head of Sabha hospital, said 20 people have been killed and 50 wounded.

Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Much of the country is effectively ruled by a patchwork of local or tribal militias.</s>Since the downfall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in Libya's 2011 revolution, the country has been riven by deadly unrest and political divisions. By Mahmud Turkia (AFP/File)

Tripoli (AFP) - More than 20 people were killed in fighting this week between rival tribes in southern Libya, a medical official said Sunday, in violence reportedly sparked by an incident involving a monkey.

Witnesses said several homes were hit by rockets and shells in the confrontation.

Nasser al-Jehimi of the medical centre in Sebha said 21 people were killed and around 100 others injured in clashes since Tuesday in the city between Awled Suleiman tribal members and the Guedadfa tribe of Libya's toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

The casualty toll was for the Awed Suleiman tribe alone as information was not immediately available from another hospital being used for their rivals.

The cause of the fighting was unclear, but Libyan and social media said it erupted after a monkey belonging to one tribe attacked a child from the other camp.

There was no official confirmation of the report.

Salah Badr, a member of Sebha city council, declined to give specifics but noted that relations between the two tribes had been strained for many years.

Since the downfall of Kadhafi in Libya's 2011 revolution, the country has been riven by deadly unrest and political divisions.

Regular inter-tribal clashes in Sebha have left several dozen people dead.</s>(CNN) A pet monkey pounced on a schoolgirl in southwestern Libya, an act that set off days of deadly clashes between rival tribes, residents told CNN.

The violence erupted in the desert city of Sabha on Friday, the day after the monkey attack.

One hospital official said at least 14 people were dead and 60 people injured in four days of clashes between members of the Gaddadfa and Suleiman tribes.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya said at least 20 were killed and more than 50 were injured. It and other bodies urged reconciliation.

"My sincere condolences to the victims' families. My thoughts are with them and those injured," said Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of UNSMIL.

"I commend community leaders' efforts to reach a ceasefire and put an end to the senseless killing plaguing Sabha. Voices of reason should prevail, and quickly, for the benefit of the country," he said.

The new clashes started after a pet monkey owned by a member of the Gaddadfa tribe attacked a high school girl from the Suleiman tribe on Thursday.

It scratched her face and pulled off her headscarf. Suleiman members retaliated and killed some Gaddadfa men. According to local reports, not yet confirmed by CNN, the monkey was also killed.

Violence persisted afterward. People stayed indoors as gunfire, tank cannons and mortar shells rang out in Sabha early Monday. The city is some 480 miles, or 775 kilometers, south of the nation's capital, Tripoli.

Enmity runs deep between the Gaddadfa and Suleiman tribes, the most powerful armed factions in the region.

The Suleiman had strongly resented his regime. Shortly after Gadhafi's death, members of the tribe were accused of plotting to overthrow him.

Osama Alwafi, a spokesman for the Sabha Medical Center, told CNN the facility has received more than 50 injured people along with 14 bodies. He said the center lacked the resources and the medical staff to handle the emergency.

A member of another tribe who gave his name as Abdusalam and did not want to disclose his full name for security reasons, said that a committee of elder tribesmen from the south met with both parties to try to stop the fighting.

"The Council calls for an immediate halt to the clashes in the city and urge them to restraint and appeal to reason," the statement said. "The Council has assigned the Interior Minister to open an urgent investigation to determine the causes and circumstances of the clashes and... instructed the Health Minister to follow up the conditions of the injured and the wounded."
At least 16 people are killed and 50 others are wounded in clashes between rival tribes in Sabha, Libya after a monkey attacks a girl and pulls off her headscarf.