Rival armed groups battled Thursday night and into Friday in the worst outbreak of fighting in the Libyan capital Tripoli for more than a year.
Witnesses on Friday say gunbattles are rocking the southeastern Nasr Forest district and adjacent neighborhoods between militias vying for power and control over the city.
The clashes started on Thursday and reportedly left eight dead. During a lull of violence late Thursday night, panicked residents lined up in front of area gas stations.
Black smoke rose into the sky and explosions reverberated around the Abu Salim and Hadba districts, and an eyewitness said a major road nearby had been blocked off with shipping containers. Gunfire echoed across several other neighborhoods.
Tripoli is controlled by an array of armed groups which sporadically clash over territorial control or economic interests. Some groups have quasi-official status, but no government has succeeded in taming their power since the uprising that toppled Muammar Qaddafi five years ago.

Source: Arab News