TRIPOLI: The United States evacuated its Libyan Embassy staff under air cover Saturday as they faced a “real risk” from fierce fighting around Tripoli airport, Secretary of State John Kerry said.

The announcement came just hours after the country’s interim government warned that the clashes between militia vying for control of the strategic airport were threatening to tear Libya apart.

It was around 5am (0300 GMT) when the evacuation began, with the sky over the capital filled with the sound of military jets and helicopters, an AFP correspondent reported.

A Libyan security source said the air operation was an escort for the convoy of embassy vehicles on the ground which headed westwards out of Tripoli overland for the safety of neighboring Tunisia.

The fighting around the airport halted abruptly and the convoy sped out of the capital shortly afterwards, witnesses said.

The embassy was considered to be at risk as it is on the airport road, close to the scene of the fighting.

Only on Friday night, the government had warned that the country could be torn apart by the clashes.

Calling for an end to the conflict around the airport, the government raised the spectre of “the collapse of the country” and “the destruction which could result from... endless war.”