Reuters/Imaya, LibyaHeavy fighting between local armed groups killed several people on the outskirts of Tripoli yesterday, as interim government officials struggled to calm tensions amid talk of tribal feuds and diehard support for Muammar Gaddafi. On a second day of clashes near a military camp lying among farms and villages between the capital and the port of Zawiyah, some 50km to the west, anti-Gaddafi fighters from Zawiyah pounded targets with heavy machineguns, anti-aircraft cannon, rocket-propelled grenades and Grad rockets. Incoming shellfire forced the Zawiyah fighters to take cover and retreat at times. The fighting has fanned anxieties that, with tens of thousands of heavily armed men roaming a country still lacking new structures of government, frictions could escalate and hamper efforts to install democracy in place of Gaddafi’s rule. Zawiyah fighters, who said they had two men killed on Friday, put their own losses yesterday at around 10, though there was considerable confusion at the scene. Senior figures who said they spoke for those on the other side said they knew of no losses and blamed tension on misunderstandings. Intense and prolonged exchanges of gunfire punctuated by explosions continued for several hours yesterday afternoon, around a military base at Imaya, an area inhabited by people from the Wershifanna tribe, a big clan in the Tripoli region. The area straddles the main highway connecting the capital to the Tunisian border and oil and gas facilities near Zawiyah. Mohamed Sayeh, a member from the Wershifanna on the 51-seat National Transitional Council (NTC), Libya’s interim rulers, played down the fighting, calling it an attack by men from Zawiyah who wanted control of the Imaya base and had been misled by a rumour that pro-Gaddafi fighters were in the area. “They have made propaganda that the Wershifanna are pro-Gaddafi to themselves an excuse to go through people’s homes, take their cars,” Sayeh said, adding that the NTC was working to calm the situation. “These are false rumours.” Yet at the Zawiyah brigades’ front line, field commander Walid bin Kora, speaking as the sound of bullets and grenades filled the gathering dusk, insisted he and his men had seen organised fighting units with vehicles marked “Brigade of the Martyr Muammar Gaddafi” attack them and take prisoners. He said Zawiyah fighters had seen tanks and green flags, a symbol of support for Gaddafi, and had captured “mercenary” pro-Gaddafi fighters from sub-Saharan Africa. “It’s a real army,” bin Kora said of those he was facing as his brigade regrouped under a highway bridge. There was no independent confirmation. A paramedic from Zawiyah, who drove to the scene to help take troops back to Zawiyah hospital, said he knew of at least seven killed from their side. Reuters journalists saw more than a dozen wounded fighters being evacuated from the area. Fathi Ayad, an NTC military commander who is also from the Wershifanna, said the interim administration had brought together leaders from both sides and was confident a ceasefire would hold today. There was little sign of calm as darkness fell yesterday. Sayeh of the NTC said that NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil had taken part in hours of talks through the night of Friday into yesterday to try to resolve the conflict. Sayeh said he was confident of a resolution.