Overnight clashes in Libya's capital killed at least six people, an emergency medical service said Tuesday, with local media reporting that an armed group leader was among the dead.
Heavy arms fire and explosions were heard in several areas of Tripoli from 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Monday as violent clashes between rival armed groups rocked the capital.
"Six bodies have been retrieved from the sites of clashes around Abu Salim" in Tripoli, the Emergency Medicine and Support Centre said.
Reports said Abdelghani al-Kikli, leader of the Support and Stability Apparatus (SSA) which controls the southern district of Abu Salim, was killed, with unverified images of his body circulating on social media.
The reports said he was shot at a base of the rival 444 Brigade while attending a meeting for mediation.
Libya expert Jalel Harchaoui said on social media that Kikli was likely ambushed at the base, citing a relative of the SSA leader.
Harchaoui described Kikli as one of Tripoli's "most successful armed group leaders", with an "ability to outmanoeuvre Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah".
The 444 Brigade, which controls other parts of southern Tripoli, is aligned with Dbeibah.
Harchaoui said this would mean a "territorial reshuffle" in the capital, with the 444 Brigade seizing areas formerly controlled by the SSA.
Libya is struggling to recover from years of unrest following the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow and killing of longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi.
The North African country is currently divided between a UN-recognised government in Tripoli led by Dbeibah and a rival administration in the east, controlled by the Haftar family.
- 'Security and stability' -
Authorities had urged residents to stay indoors before saying several hours later that the fighting had been brought under control.
The Tripoli-based government on Tuesday said a "military operation" to restore "security and stability" in the capital had been successful.
An AFP photographer saw men in fatigues and armoured vehicles deployed in the city's main roads.
Dbeibah, in a post on X, thanked government forces "for restoring security and asserting the state's authority in the capital".
He later announced that several bodies previously run by the SSA would be dissolved or seized.
He also said Lotfi al-Harari, long seen as Kikli's right-hand man, would be replaced by Mostafa al-Waheshi as head of the Internal Security Agency.
"What was accomplished today shows that official institutions are capable of protecting the homeland and preserving the dignity of its citizens," Dbeibah said on X.
Despite relative calm in Libya in recent years, clashes periodically break out between armed groups vying for territory.
In August 2023, fighting between two powerful armed groups in Tripoli left 55 dead.
Authorities in several parts of the capital said schools would be closed on Tuesday until further notice.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya called for calm and urged "all parties to immediately cease fighting", warning that "attacks on civilians and civilian objects may amount to war crimes".
"UNSMIL fully supports the efforts of elders and community leaders to de-escalate the situation," it said on X.
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