Three days of clashes between tribes in the southern Libyan town of Sabha have killed more than 70 people, Libyan government spokesperson Nasser al-Manaa said on Wednesday.
"It is regrettable that more than 70 people have been killed and more than 150 have been wounded," since Monday the desert town of Sebha, the spokesperson told a news conference in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Earlier local officials said the fighting pitted the Toubou tribe against Arab tribes in Sebha had eased and efforts to secure a truce were underway Wednesday but the Toubou claimed they were facing a "massacre."
The Toubou are black oasis farmers by tradition who also have connections beyond Libya's borders. They live in southern Libya, northern Chad and in Niger, and have previously denied having separatist ambitions.
The Toubou have also been involved in deadly clashes with another tribe in the Saharan oasis of Kufra, where ethnic groups are locked in a standoff over smuggling.
