Clashes broke out Sunday near the interim parliament in Tripoli, adding to turmoil in Libya where a rogue general has launched an offensive against Islamists in the city of Benghazi. MPs were evacuated from the building in southern Tripoli as heavy gunfire erupted after a convoy of armoured vehicles entered the city from the airport road and headed for the General National Congress (GNC).
Residents said gunmen in civilian clothes attacked the building.
GNC speaker Nuri Abu Sahmein speculated the attack, in which no casualties were reported, could have been the work of the rogue general, Khalifa Haftar.
But some witnesses said the gunmen were members of the powerful Zintan brigades, made up of former rebels who fought late dictator Moamer Qadhafi in Libya's 2011 revolution.