Competing militias have chopped Tripoli up into fiefdoms and power centers after longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's ruler for 42 years, was ousted and killed in an uprising in 2011.
They maintain what observers describe as a "balance of terror."
Witnesses in Tripoli said today that gun battles rocked the southeastern Nasr Forest district and adjacent neighborhoods as residents were advised by a local emergency body affiliated with the Interior Ministry to remain home and away from windows.
During a lull in the violence late last night, panicked residents could be seen lining up outside gas stations to stock up on fuel.
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In a statement today, UN Envoy to Libya Martin Kobler called for halt to the fighting, saying he is "extremely alarmed."
"It's completely unacceptable for armed groups to fight to assert their interest and control, particularly in residential areas, terrorizing the population," he said.
Reached by phone, a female resident in Tripoli told The Associated Press that families had locked themselves in their homes.
"We just want the militias to leave," she pleaded.
The UN-brokered unity government has not commented ongoing fighting and, given the fluidity of the situation, it remains to be seen whether the victors of the clashes will back the internationally-recognized body.
"This is a struggle over power. Each of the warring parties has its political and ideological agendas," said Sami al-Atrash, a Tripoli resident and a legal expert. "The clashes are belated. They expected at any moment and finally happened," he said.
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