The most intense clashes for years rocked Tripoli for a second night and continued into Wednesday morning, witnesses in the Libyan capital said, after Monday’s killing of a major militia leader set off fighting between rival factions.

The United Nations Mission to Libya (UNSMIL) warns that the situation in the country could ‘spiral out of control’.

The United Nations voiced alarm on Thursday at escalating violence in Tripoli, warning of a "severe risk of mass displacement and danger to civilians". The UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) called "for an immediate cessation of hostilities to ensure the safety and wellbeing of civilians in accordance with International Humanitarian Law".