At least nine people were killed and 16 wounded on Friday after clashes erupted between two armed factions in Tajoura, an eastern suburb of the Libyan capital Tripoli, the ambulance and emergency authority said.

A resident from Tajoura told Reuters by phone that he heard heavy shooting before Friday prayers, adding it was unsafe to leave his house.

The shooting lasted for a couple of hours before calm was restored, said the resident, who wanted to remain anonymous for security reasons.

The ambulance authority posted two short videos showing its teams retrieving a body.

There was no immediate indication of who had taken part in the violence or why they were fighting.

Tajoura is a coastal district about 25 km (15 miles) east of Tripoli.

Libya has had little peace since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, and it divided in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions.

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