This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Heavy fighting between militias with anti-aircraft guns and rocket-propelled grenades has broken out near the airport of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

Islamist militias attacked the rival Zintan group, which controls Libya's international airport in Tripoli, triggering fierce clashes that halted flights, officials said.

The exchanges with heavy weapons, which rival armed groups retain from the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled the longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, were heard in the city centre, 15 miles (25km) away.

British Airlines and Turkish Airways cancelled their flights, while thick smoke could be seen near the airport, residents said. An airport official said rockets had struck inside the airport perimeter at about 6am local time, interrupting flights. "Clashes followed between the Zintan militia who control the airport and rivals who want to drive them out," the official added.

The former rebel militia from Zintan, a hill town south-west of the capital, is the main supporter of liberals in parliament who are trying to resist attempts by powerful Islamists hoping to gain power in the vacuum left after Gaddafi was ousted.

The attack was claimed by the Operations Cell of Libyan Revolutionaries, a coalition of Islamist militias considered the armed wing of Islamists in parliament. "The revolutionary forces arrive within the perimeter of Tripoli airport and clash with armed groups inside," it said on its Facebook page.

The fighting comes weeks after a general election. Libya has been plagued by growing lawlessness while on the political front rival cabinets are jostling for power.