Scores Die in Gun Battles in Libyan Capital
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Libya's interim government said a day of fighting for control of the international airport in the capital Tripoli has killed at least 22 people.
In a statement released early on Sunday, it said "heavily armed groups" shelled "civilian targets" endangering thousands of citizens and leaving hundreds of families displaced.
The statement came a day after Libya's newly elected parliament, or House of Representatives, held its first official session in a heavily guarded hotel in Tobruk, a coastal city, as armed factions turned the two biggest cities, Tripoli and Benghazi, into battlefields.
Near the capital Tripoli, oil depots burned after being hit by shells fired by various rival groups.
The 22 people killed on Saturday were the latest casualties in fighting that has claimed more than 200 lives in recent weeks.
Libya is in the grip of its worst violence since the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi and thousands are fleeing the violence in neighboring Tunisia.
With its national army still in formation, the country has struggled to control heavily armed factions that have entrenched themselves as de facto power brokers in the transition since Gaddafi's overthrow.
Armed groups from the coastal city of Misrata have led the assault on the airport, seeking to seize it from the groups from the mountain town of Zintan.
The fighters are mainly former rebels who toppled Gaddafi with the aid of NATO air strikes.
While the parliamentarians gathered in Tobruk on Saturday, a block of southern Tripoli - located at one of the front lines between warring factions - was on fire after being hit.
Nearby streets were littered with shell casings from machine-gun fire where Zintan fighters had defended their positions, Reuters reported.
