The worst fighting in Libya's capital for years calmed on Wednesday an hour after the government announced a ceasefire, Tripoli residents said, with no immediate statement from authorities on how many people had been killed.

The most intense clashes for years rocked Tripoli for a second night and continued into Wednesday morning, witnesses in the Libyan capital said, after Monday’s killing of a major militia leader set off fighting between rival factions.

Libyan officials say clashes between heavily armed militias rocked the Libyan capital, with gunfire and explosions heard across the city following the killing of a powerful warlord