Libya Orders 'Civil Disobedience' In Capital

Libya's internationally recognised government has called for a civil disobedience campaign in Tripoli until its forces can retake the capital from militias.

Prime Minister Abdullah al Thani's cabinet said on its Facebook page that it has ordered the Libyan armed forces "to advance on Tripoli to liberate it and state institutions from the grip of armed groups".

The government urged residents to launch "a civil disobedience campaign until the arrival of the army".

Libya has had two governments and parliaments competing for legitimacy since an armed group known as Fajr Libya seized Tripoli in August.

Islamist Omar al Hasi - leader of the coalition of militias - set up his own cabinet in the capital and forced Mr al Thani to move to the east of the country.

Commanders of Fajr Libya say they are not Islamists but rather "revolutionaries" working to "correct the revolutionary process".

In the western town of Kikla, pro-government and rebel militias clashed on Tuesday with heavy weapons and rockets, an AFP photographer said.

According to the town's mayor, Nureddin Meftah, more than 100 people have been killed and 300 wounded since pro-government militias from Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, attacked their Fajr Libya rivals in there on October 11.

There was no independent confirmation of the casualty figures.

Since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a 2011 revolution, interim authorities have been unable to rebuild the regular army and have instead relied on state-backed militias.

Rebels who fought to oust the dictator have banded together and seized control of large parts of the oil-producing nation in the last three years.