Libyan militia fighters on the government payroll fought each other with rifles, grenades and anti-aircraft weapons on the streets of Tripoli on Tuesday in the worst clashes in the capital in weeks.

No one was killed, but the fighting underlined how Libya’s government is finding it harder to contain former fighters and Islamist militants in a country awash with weapons two years after Muammar Gaddafi’s fall.

Strikes and armed protests by militias and tribal gunmen demanding payments or political rights have shut much of the OPEC member’s oil output for months and deprived the government of its key source of income.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has sought to co-opt militias that helped to topple Gaddafi by integrating them and their weapons from the NATO-backed revolt into the nascent army and police. But in practice, most continue to report to their commanders or tribes. . . .

A senior security official said three people had been wounded, among them the head of a militia from the central city of Misrata who was critically wounded.

Image: Armed militias in the streets of Tripoli following skirmishes, January 4, 2012 (photo: Magharebia/Wikipedia)