CLASHES broke out totday between armed groups in a western Libyan city, trapping residents in their homes and causing fires in the country’s second-largest oil refinery, officials said.

The fighting in the coastal city of Zawiya, about 30 miles west of the capital Tripoli, pitted gunmen loyal to the Shurafaa tribe against warlord Mohamed Kushlaf, according to local media. 

Mr Kushalf was sanctioned by the UN security council in 2018 for his alleged involvement in human trafficking.