Libya crisis: Tripoli airport changes hands between militias
Smoke from the fighting in Tripoli could be clearly seen throughout Saturday
A militia alliance in Libya says it has seized control of Tripoli airport after a battle with another armed group.
The airport had already been closed after fighting last month.
The country has been by gripped by conflict between rival militias that spearheaded the 2011 uprising against long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi. Several hundred people have died in a recent upsurge of fighting.
The militia alliance - which includes some Islamist fighters and others from the city of Misrata - said it had won control of the airport despite being targeted by mystery airstrikes for a second time this week.
Fighting is raging in and around Tripoli
Much of Tripoli's infrastructure has been damaged in the fighting
The airport and the area around it have seen fierce clashes in recent weeks
The reported fall of the airport is a setback for the rival militia from the city of Zintan, allies of Gen Khalifa Haftar, who launched a campaign earlier this year against what he termed the "Islamist-dominated" government.
The Zintan militia had controlled the airport for nearly three years.
The significance of one militia seizing Tripoli's airport from another is difficult for many civilians in the capital to grasp - especially those displaced by the fighting, and families who have had to bury their dead after stray rockets hit their homes.
Libya's main airport is a wreck, but it didn't stop those who overran it taking pictures of each other celebrating what they see as a victory.
It's a symbolic win for them and their backers. However, as long as Libya's airports, oil terminals, ports and other key institutions are run by militias on either side of the divide, nothing has really changed on the ground.
It won't until the state takes control, and it is nowhere near doing so.
Several hundred people are believed to have died in July and August in an upsurge of unrest.
Observers have often pointed out that Libya's complex web of militias often operate on a "my enemy's enemy is my friend" basis.
Fighting is also raging in the eastern coastal city of Benghazi
The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says that it is not a clear-cut Islamist versus nationalist battle because some militias are essentially fighting for their continued existence and empowerment.
Tripoli and Benghazi are for the most part out of the government's control, correspondents say, with senior officials basing themselves in Tobruk in the east, where the new parliament is located.
Thousands have fled their homes to escape the violence.
More than three years after Gaddafi was overthrown and killed, Libya's police and army remain weak in comparison with the militias who control large parts of the country.
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