Tripoli’s worst armed clashes in a year have killed 55 people and wounded 146, Libyan media outlets have reported, as a truce took hold.
Fighting erupted on Monday night and raged through Tuesday between the influential 444 Brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, two of the many armed groups that have vied for power since the overthrow of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Libya’s Al-Ahrar TV reported the new casualty toll on Wednesday, citing Malek Mersit, spokesman for the Emergency Medical Centre. Medics had previously reported 27 dead and 106 wounded over the two days of fighting in the capital.
In August last year, 32 people were killed and 159 wounded in Tripoli during battles between divided Libya’s two rival administrations that compete for power through shifting alliances with the fighting groups on the ground.