Libya's UN-backed government declared a state of emergency in Tripoli on Sunday after days of fighting left at least 39 people dead and dozens more injured.

"Due to the danger of the current situation and for the sake of the public interest, the presidential council declares the state of emergency in the capital, Tripoli, and its suburbs to protect and secure civilians, public and private possessions and vital institutions," it said in a statement.

The government also called for militias to end the violence and respect a UN-brokered cease-fire.

Ongoing clashes between warring groups broke out in the suburbs south of Tripoli on Monday. According to the health ministry, some 100 people have been wounded in the unrest.

Read more: German government pledges €120 million for Libya migrants and refugees

Armed militias have been battling for control of the Libyan capital since the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Jihadist groups, such as the so-called "Islamic State," have also exploited the political turmoil and lawlessness to gain a foothold in the North African country.

Libya is governed by rival authorities — the internationally recognized operates from Tripoli in the west, while the other is based in the eastern city of Tobruk. Each one is backed by several militias.

In a statement issued on Saturday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the escalation of violence, "in particular, the use by armed groups of indiscriminate shelling leading to the death and injury of civilians, including children."

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Libya's U.N.-backed government has announced a state of emergency in the capital and its outskirts as ongoing fighting has killed some 39 people including civilians in the past days.

The fighting erupted last week between armed groups from Tripoli against others from a town to the south vying for power in Libya's capital. The Health Ministry said the fighting has also wounded 96 others.

Sunday's statement by the government urged rival militias to stop the fighting and abide a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi. The country is currently governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the east, each backed by an array of militias that wield real power on the ground.</s>The death toll from ongoing fighting in Libya's capital, Tripoli, has risen to at least 50, health officials said, as violence between rival militias rages on.

The health ministry said on Tuesday clashes between armed groups had also left more than 138 people wounded.

On August 27, fierce battles erupted in Tripoli's districts after the Seventh Brigade, an armed group based in Tarhouna, 65km southeast of the capital, launched a surprise offensive against rival militias.

A truce was reached the next day but clashes resumed shortly after, forcing authorities to close Tripoli's only functioning airport.

The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli declared a state of emergency on Sunday.

Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from Tripoli, said the situation remained tense with sporadic fighting and indiscriminate rocket fire continuing to land in residential areas.

"Several attempts have failed to put a ceasefire in force since the clashes erupted on August 26," Abdelwahed said.

"The Seventh Brigade whose commanders say it works under the presidential guard of the GNA was disavowed by the government in April."

On Monday, social media website Facebook was blocked in Tripoli and surrounding cities.

Libyan utility LPTIC, which owns the two state telecoms firms, said in a statement that a lack of security had led to outages. Maintenance engineers were unable to reach some stations which had stopped working due to a lack of power.

It did not address the Facebook issue.

Access to the web is controlled by state firms and monitored by security bodies which are effectively controlled by armed groups working with the weak GNA.

Independent national media based inside Libya scarcely exists as journalists often face threats from armed groups or officials unhappy with critical coverage

Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew and ruler Muammar Gaddafi and led to his death.

The country is governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the country's east, each of which are backed by an array of militias.</s>BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Libya's U.N.-backed government has announced a state of emergency in the capital and its outskirts as ongoing fighting has killed some 39 people including civilians in the past days.

The fighting erupted last week between armed groups from Tripoli against others from a town to the south vying for power in Libya's capital. The Health Ministry said the fighting has also wounded 96 others.

Sunday's statement by the government urged rival militias to stop the fighting and abide a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi. The country is currently governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the east, each backed by an array of militias that wield real power on the ground.</s>Libya's U.N.-backed government has announced a state of emergency in the capital and its outskirts as ongoing fighting has killed 39 people including civilians in the past days.

 

 The fighting erupted last week between armed groups from Tripoli against others from a town to the south vying for power in Libya's capital. The Health Ministry said the fighting has also wounded 96 others.

 

 Sunday's statement by the government urged rival militias to stop the fighting and abide a U.N.-negotiated ceasefire. 

 

 Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi. The country is currently governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the east, each backed by an array of militias that wield real power on the ground.</s>The death toll from fighting between rival armed groups in Libya's capital has climbed to at least 50 people including civilians, authorities said Tuesday, as the UN mission stepped up efforts to a cease-fire.

Fighting erupted last week when the Seventh Brigade, militias which hail from Tarhouna, a town about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of Tripoli, attacked southern neighbourhoods of the capital.

The Revolutionaries' Brigades and the militias which support the Tripoli-based UN-backed government have come to the city's defence.

At least 138 people, including civilians, have since been wounded, the said in a statement.

slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew ruler and led to his death. The country is currently governed by rival authorities in and the country's east, each of which are backed by an array of militias.

Other armed groups have carved out fiefdoms across the country, with many profiting from smuggling and extortion.

The in has voiced concern about the impact of the fighting on migrants and internally displaced people.

said Tuesday that some of the nearly 8,000 arbitrarily detained migrants are trapped in detention centres in areas where fighting has taken place, without access to or medical treatment.

She said at least 21 civilians have been killed, including two women and two children since August 26.

Also on Tuesday, the called on parties to the fighting to "spare civilians and and allow safe passage for those seeking refuge in safer areas".

The clashes have forced the UN-backed government to declare a state of emergency in and around Tripoli, saying the fighting is "an attempt to derail peaceful political transition" in the country.

The government said it "could not remain silent over the attacks on Tripoli and its suburbs, which is a violation of security in the capital and of citizens' safety".

Mohamed Buisier, a political analyst, said the fighting was expected as the armed groups protecting the government in Tripoli were getting "larger portions of financial incentives." 



"This is a normal thing after years of failure...We are in a new phase where nobody can strip the militias from their arms. needs an international peace-keeping force," he said.

The UN mission in has been preparing for a meeting between the warring parties in an effort to put an end to the fighting.

It called on "the various concerned parties" to meet on Tuesday for an "urgent dialogue on the security situation" in Tripoli.</s>BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Libya's U.N.-backed government has announced a state of emergency in the capital and its outskirts as ongoing fighting has killed some 39 people including civilians in the past days.

The fighting erupted last week between armed groups from Tripoli against others from a town to the south vying for power in Libya's capital. The Health Ministry said the fighting has also wounded 96 others.

Sunday's statement by the government urged rival militias to stop the fighting and abide a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi. The country is currently governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the east, each backed by an array of militias that wield real power on the ground.</s>TRIPOLI - Rockets rained on several parts of the Libyan capital Saturday despite a truce to end fighting between rival militias, with one projectile hitting a popular hotel and wounding three people, rescuers and medics said.

The renewed violence came as Britain, France, Italy and the United States denounced the violence and warned that an escalation would hamper the political process in North African country.

Rescuers and witnesses said three people were wounded when a rocket hit the Al-Waddan Hotel, which overlooks the bay of Tripoli and is popular with foreigners.

It was not immediately clear if they were clients of staff members.

Rockets also hit other areas of the city, which has been at the epicentre of a bitter power struggle since the fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

On Friday, at least 15 rockets rained on Tripoli and its immediate surroundings, including the capital's only operational airport, according to rescue workers and an airport source.

Since then, authorities have suspended all flights in and out of Mitiga airport, just east of Tripoli, and rerouted them to the airport in Misrata, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) further east.

The fighting broke out on Monday in suburbs south of Tripoli and continued into Wednesday evening after a truce collapsed, despite the United Nations appealing for calm.

The clashes had paused on Thursday after a ceasefire agreement announced by officials from western Libya, but by late afternoon the hostilities had resumed.

In a joint statement, Britain, France, Italy and the United States said they "warn those who tamper with security in Tripoli or elsewhere in Libya that they will be held accountable for any such actions."

They also called on all sides "to refrain from any action that would jeopardise the political framework established by the UN-led mediation to which the international community is fully committed". The interior ministry of Libya's UN-backed unity government, the Government of National Accord (GNA), also denounced the renewed violence Saturday. In a statement, it blamed unnamed factions for "undermining the ceasefire (announced on Thursday)... by blindly launching rockets and shells on Tripoli and its suburbs".

According to the GNA's health ministry, around 40 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded since the fighting first broke out on Monday in the capital's southern suburbs.

Human Rights Watch said four children were among at least 18 civilians killed in the fighting. "The recklessness of armed groups currently fighting each other for power appears to have no boundaries, and civilians are paying the price," said the rights group's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson.

"All sides need to do everything they can to spare civilian lives."</s>A judiciary official said as the United Nations called for the warring parties to meet on Tuesday.

The inmates forced open the doors of the Ain Zara prison and guards were unable to stop them, the official said, confirming a judiciary police statement posted on social media.

He asked not to get identified and could not provide more details.

The prison is located in southern Tripoli, an area hit for one week by heavy fighting between rival groups.

Separately, a missile fell on Sunday on the al-Fallah camp for displaced Tawergha people, killing two and wounding seven, including two children, said Emad Ergeha, an activist following Tawergha issues.

The Tawergha were forced to leave their settlement near the western city of Misrata in the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and have been prevented from going back since.

Ergeha, who is a Tawergha, also posted online a video of firefighters extinguishing a blaze and showing severe damage to steel-made containers in the camp.

A rocket also hit the Waddan hotel in central Tripoli near the Italian Embassy on Saturday. Three people were injured, staff said.

State oil firm NOC confirmed one of its diesel depots used to supply a power station had been hit by a rocket on Saturday.

Fierce clashes erupted last week between the Seventh Brigade, or Kaniyat, from Tarhouna, a town 65 km (40 miles) southeast of Tripoli, against the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigades (TRB) and the Nawasi, two of the capital’s largest armed groups.

The U.N.-backed government based in Tripoli declared a state of emergency in the capital “given the seriousness of the current situation.”

Although the government is formally in charge, it does not control the capital where armed groups are allied to it but operate with autonomy, often motivated by money and power.

To end the fighting the U.N. mission in Libya called on the “various concerned parties” to meet on Tuesday noon for an “urgent dialogue on the security situation.”</s>BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Libya's U.N.-backed government has announced a state of emergency in the capital and its outskirts as ongoing fighting has killed some 39 people including civilians in the past days.

The fighting erupted last week between armed groups from Tripoli against others from a town to the south vying for power in Libya's capital. The Health Ministry said the fighting has also wounded 96 others.

Sunday's statement by the government urged rival militias to stop the fighting and abide a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

Libya slid into chaos after the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi. The country is currently governed by rival authorities in Tripoli and the east, each backed by an array of militias that wield real power on the ground.
More than 40 people, including civilians, have died in clashes in the Libyan city of Tripoli.