At least 16 persons were killed and 48 others injured on Monday as an outlawed militia group attacked Libya's Tripoli International Airport with heavy weapons, a medical source said.

"The victims include civilians. The injured have been transferred to several hospitals and clinics in Tripoli," Abduddayem Al-Rabri, director of Tripoli field hospital, told Xinhua.

Rabri called on all Libyan doctors and medical assistants to help treat the injured people, stressing that many doctors are providing assistance.

The Special Deterrent Force in charge of securing the airport said: "The criminal militia known as Bashir al-Baqarah and all the criminals wanted by the Deterrent Force attacked the International Airport after escaping (jail) and joining the militia."

The force noted that the attackers were being dealt with "until they are defeated and expelled from the M'etiga airport and the prison, where more than 2,500 inmates are detained on various charges".

The force posted images of tanks deployed around the airport and confirmed that the situation was now under full control.

The head of the Civil Aviation Authority Nasr-Addin Shayeb al-Ain said the airport has been temporarily closed for security reasons.

The UN-backed government issued a statement condemning the attack, "which threatened the lives of travellers, nearby residents and the safety of air traffic".

"This attack aimed at freeing IS, al-Qaida and other terrorists from the detention centre supervised by the Interior Ministry's Special Deterrence Force," said the statement.

"Those acts not only attempted to free terrorists, but also attempted to hinder the peaceful political transition in the country, and also obstruct local and international efforts to achieve stability in our country. These acts will not go unpunished," the statement added.

The M'eiga International Airport of Tripoli witnessed frequent clashes and armed attacks, most recently in October 2017.

However, Monday's attack is the most violent one the airport has witnessed so far, as gunmen attacked the air hub and the prison inside it, where hundreds of terrorists have been detained over the past few years.

--IANS

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