Some 400 prisoners escaped from a jail in the libyan capital, authorities said, as recent fighting between rival militias that has killed dozens compelled the UN-backed Government to declare a State of emergency in and around Tripoli.
The inmates overwhelmed guards and forced open the gates of the Ain Zara prison after riots broke out there, police said yesterday in a statement posted on Facebook.
The prisoners included many supporters of the late libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi who had been found guilty of killings during the 2011 uprising that ended his rule and plunged the country into chaos. The fighting in Tripoli erupted last week when the Seventh Brigade, militias which hail from Tarhouna, a town about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of Tripoli, attacked southern neighborhoods of the capital.