CAIRO (NEWSnet/AP) — Clashes between rival militias in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, killed at least 27 people and left residents trapped in their homes Tuesday, medical authorities said.

The fighting appears to be the most intense to shake the city this year.

In addition to the 27 deaths, over 100 people were injured in the fighting, Libya’s Emergency Medicine and Support Center, a medical body that is deployed during humanitarian disasters and wars, said early Wednesday.

The clashes erupted late Monday between militiamen from the 444 brigade and the Special Deterrence Force, according to local media. Tensions flared after Mahmoud Hamza, a senior commander of the 444 brigade, was allegedly detained by the rival group at an airport in Tripoli earlier in the day, the reports said.

It is unclear how many of the dead were militiamen or civilians.

Throughout the fighting Tuesday, the Health Ministry urged the warring sides to allow ambulance and emergency teams to enter the affected areas, primarily in the south of the city.

In the meantime, OPSGroup, an organization for the aviation industry, said late Monday that inbound flights were being diverted to the nearby city of Misrata.

The escalation follows months of relative peace after nearly a decade of civil war in Libya, where two rival sets of authorities are locked in a political stalemate. The North African nation has been in a state of upheaval since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and later killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

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