Rival Libyan militias battled for Tripoli International Airport on Sunday , leaving nine people dead and 25 others wounded , the government said . Shelling was threatening civilians as violence stretched along the airport road , which is dotted with residential neighborhoods . All flights in and out of the airport have been suspended . CNN personnel could hear gunfire and blasts throughout the day . Heavy smoke billowed above the airport . While the government issued a statement calling for calm , Libya 's government is weak and militias outnumber and outgun its security forces . Many of the armed groups are on the state 's payroll . These circumstances make it very difficult for the government to gain control over this latest increasingly volatile and violent situation . State-run al-Rasmiya television gave the death toll , citing Libya 's Health Ministry . Brigades from the Zintan militia have controlled the airport since the Libyan civil war in 2011 . Other militias have tried to wrest control of the airport from the Zintan brigades for years . Armed vehicles gathered in the area overnight before fighting broke out around dawn Sunday , witnesses said . `` The revolutionary brigades are inside Tripoli International Airport , '' the Libyan Revolutionaries Operations Room , an Islamist militia in the capital , posted on its Facebook page . `` The revolutionary forces have reached the perimeter of Tripoli International Airport ... clashes with some of the armed groups present there , '' the group said . State-owned Afriqiyah Airways said on its official Facebook page that it was diverting some of its international arrivals to the city of Misrata , and that the airport in Tripoli would be closed until July 17 . Late Sunday morning , the sounds of fighting could also be heard in the vicinity of a Zintan base in a western suburb of Tripoli . Libya 's interim government released a statement Sunday that said regional brigades and `` field commanders '' are carrying out `` operations , '' and they moved on Tripoli Airport with `` no order or legitimate cover , coming from different directions ... '' The government is in talks with what the statement called the international community so that lives and `` vital installations '' are protected . Stop `` these acts of war , '' the statement implored . A state of emergency in all hospitals and clinics was issued . Hugh Robertson , the United Kingdom 's minister for the Middle East , urges an immediate end to violence at Tripoli International Airport . Robertson said the violence was `` putting the lives of people in the area in grave danger . `` We urge all sides to cease violence immediately and to engage in meaningful dialogue , '' he said . In a statement the night before the fighting erupted , the U.S. State Department expressed concern about what it said was the `` ongoing violence in Libya and dangerous posturing that could lead to widespread conflict there . '' The U.S. renewed its calls for national dialogue in Libya . Even though Libyans successfully toppled the 42-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 , the country is far from stable . Armed militias are now the biggest challenge . The international community has largely agreed that the key to resolving Libya 's crisis is national dialogue . But a weak central government -- combined with militias split along regional , tribal and ideological lines -- has added to the challenge . `` The United States is deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in Libya and dangerous posturing that could lead to widespread conflict there , '' the State Department said in a statement Saturday . `` We affirm our support for Libya 's democratic transition and urge the seating of the new Council of Representatives as soon as possible , '' the statement added . `` Finally , we stress the vital role Libya 's Constitution Drafting Assembly plays in building the new country for which Libyans sacrificed so much during the revolution . ''
National airline and airport will be closed until July 17 . Government is targeting civilians with violence , also along airport road . Brigades from Zintan have controlled the airport since 2011 .