Two powerful militias that back Libya’s UN-supported government have clashed in the capital, Tripoli, killing 55 people and injuring 146 others, medics say.
Libya remains in political chaos after long-serving ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011.
Fighting has left many people trapped in their homes as battles took place in several districts of the capital, including Ain Zara in the south-east.
The latest violence was between brigades that operate in Tripoli, where Prime Minster Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah heads a government.
According to Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center, 234 families had to be evacuated from frontline areas with 60 ambulances deployed and three field hospitals set up to deal with the causalities.
The prime minister intervened and managed to get the commander released to a “neutral party”, the AFP news agency reports.