Armed groups influential were involved in hostilities in the heart of the Libyan capital on the night of Thursday to Friday, panicking many unsuspecting citizens who had come out to celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitrof the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, Libyan media reported yesterday Friday.

The cause of the fighting, in which no casualties were reported and which lasted for at least an hour, remains officially unknown at this stage. The authorities gave no explanation.

The exchange of fire, including the use of heavy weapons, broke out late at night between members of “judicial police”belonging to Special Deterrence Force (“ar Rada”)which controls eastern Tripoli, and the Stability Support Authority, a group based in the suburb of Abu Slim, in the southern part of the capital.

According to media, the clashes followed the arrest at a roadblock by the “judicial police” of a member of the Stability Support Authority, who in turn arrested members of the Special Deterrence Force.

Gunfire rang out across Tripoli, including machine-gun fire in crowded areas, on the second day of celebrations marking the end of Ramadan.

Families with children were forced to flee parks and cafes in the eastern and southern parts of Tripoli, especially on the road leading to the airport, in the heart of the capital, and other commercial thoroughfares.

The first aid service of the Ministry of Health called on citizens to avoid the areas where exchanges of fire broke out.

Yesterday Friday, United Nations Support Mission in Libya expressed its “deep concern” about the ever-recurring “resort to violence to resolve disputes”, which puts “civilian lives at risk and worsens the already precarious situation”.

Denouncing through X the “chronic insecurity” and “protracted political crisis”, the UN mission called for any “escalation” or “retaliation” to be avoided and “those responsible to be held accountable”.

The armed organizations, formed during or after the uprising, overthrow and death of the dictator Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011, fill the security gap, absent stable state institutions. However, they are not reported to the Ministries of Interior or Defense, even though they are financed by public funds.

Their presence in Tripoli is mainly noticeable at roundabouts and intersections, where their members, often wearing hoods, set up barricades and block passage, often using armored vehicles with adapted light or heavy machine guns.

Fighting has broken out between them on several occasions in areas of the capital. Like last August, when 55 people were killed and 146 others wounded during a day of hostilities in Tripoli between the Special Interdiction Force and the 444 Brigade.

On February 21, Mr Imad Trabelsi, the Interior Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU, based in Tripoli, recognized by the UN) announced the imminent withdrawal of all armed groups deployed in the capital, including the Special Deterrence Force and the Stability Support Authority.

No timetable has been set, but the minister had hinted that the project would take place after Ramadan.