Riots erupted in the Ain Zara prison as fighting raged in the city, leaving dozens of civilians dead.
Reuters/Hani Amara
About 400 prisoners have escaped from a jail in Libya’s capital amid clashes between rival factions vying for control of the city, authorities said Sunday. The inmates at Tripoli's Ain Zara prison reportedly stormed their way out after riots erupted. Many of the prisoners were supporters of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was accused of war crimes against the Libyan people and killed by rebel forces in a 2011 uprising. The jailbreak comes after Libya’s U.N.-backed government declared a state of emergency in Tripoli. At least 47 people have been killed in the capital and surrounding areas in recent days, prompting the U.N. and several Western nations to call for an immediate end to the violence.
