TRIPOLI: Fresh clashes erupted in a Tripoli suburb on Saturday, witnesses and the Libyan government said, as the death toll from violence at an anti-militia protest topped 40.

More than 400 people were also wounded when Friday’s protest degenerated into armed clashes in the capital that continued through the night, Justice Minister Salah Al-Marghani said.

He said in a government statement that the death toll was expected to rise.

The new clashes broke out as vehicles loaded with fighters from Misrata, whose militia headquarters in the capital were at the center of Friday’s fighting, headed to Tripoli from the eastern suburb of Tajura.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan appealed for “restraint and a halt to the clashes,” warning the entry of more armed groups into the volatile capital could only “further complicate the situation.”

On Friday, a demonstration calling for the Misrata militia made up of former rebel fighters to leave the capital turned into a deadly confrontation between rival gunmen.

The militias are holdovers from the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi and are a powerful force in the increasingly lawless North African country.