400 prisoners break out of Tripoli jail as fighting between armed militias intensifies

Many of them were convicted for murders during an uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s government in 2011.

At least 400 prisoners broke out of a jail in Libya’s capital Tripoli on Sunday amid violence between armed groups in the city, reported Reuters. Inmates of the Ain Zara prison, located in the southern part of the city, broke open the doors and fled. Guards, who feared for their own lives, could not stop them, the police said in a statement.

Many of the inmates at the prison, which is an all-male facility, were supporters of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, reported the BBC. They were convicted for murders during the uprising against his government in 2011.

In a separate incident on Sunday, two people were killed and seven injured after a missile landed in a camp housing displaced people, Reuters quoted activist Emad Ergeha as saying. The al-Fallah camp provides shelter to the



displaced Tawergha people who were forced to leave their homes near Misrata in the west in the aftermath of the 2011 uprising.

On Saturday, another rocket hit a hotel near the Italian Embassy, injuring three people.

Over the past week, 47 people have died in rival militia clashes in Tripoli, said the country’s Ministry of Health. Violence erupted last week after militias from the south of Tripoli attacked other areas. This led to a fight with local militias that support the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord.

The government has declared a state of emergency in the capital “given the seriousness of the current situation” and described the violence as “an attempt to derail peaceful political transition”. The UN mission in Libya has called on “various concerned parties” to meet on Tuesday for an “urgent dialogue on the security situation”.