Clashes between militias in Libya kill 47

The ministry said on its website late Sunday that the fighting also left 120 people wounded. It also said it had not yet received the full casualty report. 

The weeklong battle over the airport is being waged by a powerful militia from the western city of Zintan, which controls the facility, and Islamist-led militias, including fighters from Misrata, east of Tripoli. The clashes resumed Sunday after cease-fire efforts failed. 

Television footage broadcast Sunday showed a mortar shell striking a Libyan Arab Airlines plane and a column of black smoke billowing from inside the airport, which has been closed since last Monday. 

Libya is witnessing one of its worst spasms of violence since the ouster of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The rival militias, made up largely of former rebels, have forced a weeklong closure of gas stations and government offices. 

In recent days, armed men have attacked vehicles carrying money from the Central Bank to local banks, forcing their closure. The Central Bank had said banks would reopen Sunday, but then remained closed as the fighting resumed.