Libyan official: 1 killed, 5 wounded in Tripoli clashes

A Libyan official says clashes have broken out between rival militias in Libya’s capital, killing at least one civilian and wounding five others

Clashes broke out early Saturday between rival militias in Libya’s capital, killing at least one civilian and wounding five others, a health official said.

Malek Merset, an emergency services spokesman, told The Associated Press that Mustafa Baraka, a comedian known for his social media videos, died after he was shot in the chest. Merset said his body was taken to a Tripoli hospital.

He said at least five other civilians were wounded in the clashes that centered in the capital city of Tripoli. Footage circulated online showed houses and vehicles apparently damaged from the fighting.

The violence pits the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigade militia, led by Haitham Tajouri, against another militia allied with Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, an infamous warlord known as “Gheniwa,” according to local media.

The violence was the latest escalation to threaten the relative peace after nearly a decade of civil war in Libya, where two rival sets of authorities are locked in a political stalemate. The divisions have sparked several incidents of violence in Tripoli in recent months.