Deadly clashes in Libya leave at least 23 dead

Despite a visit by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to Libya urging factions to come together, fighting between Islamist militias and rival groups in a western Libyan town has killed at least 23 people.

Nationalist militia from the hilltown of Zintan, attacked their Islamist-led Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) rivals in the neighbouring town of Kikla, 120km from Tripoli.

The intense battle in Kikla also left 43 people wounded, mainly from shrapnel wounds, Emad Khalifa Abdul-Salam of the Gharyan hospital, southwest of the capital, Tripoli, told AP.

In his surprise visit to Tripoli, Ban Ki-moon called for dialogue to end the fighting and supported ongoing talks in the southern city of Ghadames.

The fighting is part of a nationwide power struggle between Islamist-backed militias, which have seized control of most of Tripoli, including its international airport, and their opponents, who back an internationally recognized government based in the far eastern part of the country.

The anti-Islamist Zintan militia, named for its hometown in the west, attacked Kikla, an Islamist stronghold, on Saturday.

A commander in the Islamist militias, known as Libya Dawn, said the Zintan militia, with the backing of local tribes, was able to seize parts of Kikla and briefly cut roads between Kikla and Gharyan, about 50 miles southwest of Tripoli.

But the Libya Dawn fighters forced them to retreat, allowing traffic to resume, the commander said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.