Libya's official government has conducted air strikes against airports and a military camp in the capital Tripoli, controlled by a rival government, and killed a senior commander loyal to that government, officials said.
The internationally recognised government said on Friday that it had launched a military offensive to "liberate" Tripoli, which a group called Libya Dawn seized in August, reinstating a previous parliament.
The recognised prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, and the elected parliament have been confined to eastern Libya since then. Both administrations and armed factions loyal to them are fighting for control, four years after Muammar Gaddafi was toppled.
A Tripoli official said Salah Burki, a Libya Dawn leader, had been killed west of Tripoli, where a state news agency reported clashes between Libya Dawn and forces from Zintan allied to Thinni. The United States and five European allies issued a joint statement condemning the violence by both sides and urging an end to the fighting. They welcomed resumption of UN-led political talks in Morocco.
"We are deeply concerned about the growing threat from terrorist groups in Libya, including Da'esh," the United States and its partners Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain said in the joint statement, using an alternative Arabic name for Islamic State militants who have seized swathes of Syria and Iraq.
They said the UN-led talks offered the "best hope" for Libya and also warned that those who impede the process "will be held by accountable", including through international sanctions.
Saqer al-Joroushi, an air force commander loyal to the eastern government, said that his aircraft had bombed Mitiga airport in Tripoli and a camp used by Libya Dawn near another airport in the capital.
He said they had also attacked the airport in Zuwara, a town near the Tunisian border, west of Tripoli.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Airstrikes target Libya Dawn leaders in Tripoli