(14 Aug 2014) Fighters from Libya's Shield brigades tied to Misrata city clashed with rival militias on Wednesday and appeared to be gaining more ground in an area around the international airport in the capital of Tripoli.
The airport however was still controlled by militias from the mountain town of Zintan.
According to Shield fighters, 17 people were killed and 31 injured on both sides in the clashes.
Militias from the western city of Misrata and their Islamist allies are battling a militia from the mountain town of Zintan over the airport since July.
The two militias played key roles in the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in Libya's 2011 civil war.
The Tripoli battles are part of extensive Islamist extremist backlash after Islamist factions lost power in recent parliamentary elections.
Dramatic footage on Wednesday showed heavy fire exchanges between the militias with one Misrata Bridge rebel saying they succeeded pushing Zintan fighters out of the area, forcing them to abandon several trucks with heavy artillery.
Libya's newly elected parliament asked the United Nations for an "international intervention" and voted on Wednesday to dismantle the militias responsible for violence raging across the country for weeks.
The government gave the militias an ultimatum to join the military and police by the end of the year.
Officials repeatedly have tried unsuccessfully to disarm the slew of militias that sprouted in Libya to fight Gadhafi.
It is not clear how Wednesday's decision will be implemented.
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