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Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif |
The
fighting, which was continuing on Saturday, erupted on Thursday in the
town of Ajdabiya, the same day as Libya's warring factions signed a
United Nations-brokered agreement to form a unity government. Western
powers hope the deal will bring stability and help to combat a growing
Islamic State presence.
However, the agreement
faces questions from critics about how representative the proposed
government will be, and whether armed factions on the ground will obey
the new government. Some brand it a U.N.-imposed deal.
Casualties
in the Ajdabiya fighting included civilians or members of groups
supporting the Libyan National Army, said the sources who asked not to
be named. They added that casualties from the other side were not
treated in the town's hospitals.
It was unclear whether the Islamist fighters were affiliated to Islamic State militants.
In
a separate incident, two guards were wounded when an unknown group
attacked the military intelligence building in the western town of
Sabratha, the mayor said.
Islamic State has
exploited a growing security vacuum in Libya, where two administrations -
each with its own government and parliament - are fighting for control
four years after the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi.
The
official prime minister and parliament have been based in the east
since a rival group seized the capital Tripoli. Its government has been
working from hotels in the city of Tobruk, about 270 km (167 miles) from
Ajdabiya.
Both sides have several former
anti-Gaddafi rebel groups fighting for them. After Gaddafi's ouster, the
various factions split along political, regional and tribal lines.
Militants
loyal to Islamic State, the group which has seized large parts of Syria
and Iraq, have taken over the central city of Sirte, to the west of
Ajdabiya.
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