UPDATE: Rival militias clashed on Saturday in the Tripoli suburb of Tajoura.
The latest fighting was sparked when an armed convoy from Misrata entered the suburb in an apparent attempt to get into the centre of the capital.
Local armed groups halted the convoy, which retreated 15 kilometers (9 miles), but fire continued to be exchanged.
Prime Minister Ali Zeidan confirmed the new fighting and urged all sides to “exercise maximum restraint”:
No forces from outside Tripoli should attempt to enter the city because the situation is very tense and could escalate further….
The coming hours and days will be decisive for the history of Libya and the success of the revolution.
Government-linked militias have set up checkpoints across Tripoli as security is tightened for the funerals of many of the 43 people killed on Friday.
At least 43 people were killed and 225 wounded in Libya’s capital Tripoli on Friday, after a militia attacked protesters in the Ghargour area near the airport road.
Demonstrators marched to the headquarters of the Misrata militia to demand that it leave Tripoli. Hours after the incident, armed men returned to storm the compound, where militiamen were still holed up.
The march followed last week’s clashes between armed groups from Tripoli and Misrata, Libya’s third city. Those planning the demonstration had said they would evict armed brigades, understood to be mainly from Libya’s third city Misrata, if they had not left voluntarily by Friday.
Hundreds of people, carrying white “peace” flags as well as the national flag, sang the national anthem as they marched and assembled in the capital’s Meliana Square. They then marched to the Misrata militia’s headquarters in the Gharghour district to press their demands before gunmen opened fire.
“The situation here is very bad,” one local resident said. “I have seen about ten people shot and I am sure some of them are dead….Every type of weapon is being used here.”
The fighting started at around 3 pm and was ongoing at 7 pm. The commander of the Misrata militia, Taha Bashaga, claimed on TV that protestors were armed and opened fire first.
Bashaga insisted that the Misrata brigades would not leave Tripoli until the country had a constitution: “We will leave only in our coffins.”
The Libyan prime minister, Ali Zeidan, said all armed groups needed to leave Tripoli, without exception:
The existence of weapons outside the army and police is dangerous. All armed militias need to leave Tripoli, without exception.
Libya has been beset by recurring clashes between security forces and militias, and among militias, since the overthrow of the Qaddafi regime in October 2011.
(Featured image: credit BBC)
