Nine people were killed on Monday when militiamen attacked the Libyan capital’s international airport, the unity government’s health ministry said.

“Initial toll following the fighting on the perimeter of Mitiga airport: five dead at Mitiga hospital and four dead at the cardiac surgery hospital in Tajura. The number of wounded will be communicated later”, the ministry said on Facebook.

It was not immediately clear whether those killed were civilians or fighters.

The fighting erupted when an as yet unidentified militia attacked the facility in a bid to free colleagues detained at a jail there, a force loyal to the unity government said earlier.

AFP