Fears were mounting of renewed civil war in Libya after militias allied to the government in Tripoli captured scores of troops from a powerful rival force, and the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned that he was ending a visit to the country “deeply concerned”.

Guterres suggested that a key meeting with eastern commander, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, had not resulted in assurances from the strongman leader to avoid an escalation of tensions. “I leave Libya with a heavy heart and deeply concerned. I still hope it is possible to avoid a bloody confrontation in and around Tripoli. The UN is committed to facilitating a political solution and, whatever happens, the UN is committed to supporting the Libyan people,” Guterres said in a tweet late on Friday.After Haftar ordered his forces to advance on the capital, militias supportive of the UN-backed government in Tripoli took prisoner 145 of his soldiers from a rival force advancing from the country’s east. Haftar’s men were captured in the town of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, along with 60 vehicles, a commander told Reuters.(Theguardian)…[+]