An Islamist-leaning militia this afternoon won control of Tripoli airport from Zintani forces, according to reports.

A fierce battle had raged for weeks.

The Libya Herald said Dawn militias succeeded in wresting control of the airport and fires were burning in what remained of some of the buildings and already damaged aircraft.

The Red Crescent reported heavy casualties on both sides.

Fighting is continuing beyond the airport.

Earlier today the air force of Libya's renegade general Khalifa Haftar  attacked positions of the Dawn militias, drawn mainly from the town of Misrata. The raids killed 10 people and wounded dozens.

Haftar launched a campaign against Islamists in the eastern city of Benghazi in May. He then threw his weight behind fighters from the western region of Zintan who are battling militia from the town of Misrata, east of Tripoli.

In the 2011 NATO-backed campaign to oust Muammar Gaddafi fighters from Zintan and Misrata were comrades-in-arms but they later fell out and this year they have turned parts of Tripoli into a battlefield.

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