Royal Navy ship dispatched to Libya to rescue UK nationals

The UK government is sending a Royal Navy ship to Tripoli to help evacuate British nationals following an outbreak of violence in Libya, including fierce battles around the city's international airport.

HMS Enterprise, a survey ship on deployment in the Mediterranean carrying out work to help update navigation charts, will be diverted to the Libyan capital to help the evacuation, it is understood. The Ministry of Defence is expected to make an announcement later on Sunday.

According to Libya's interim government, at least 22 people were killed on Saturday as militias fought for control of Tripoli's airport.

In a statement early on Sunday, it said "heavily armed groups" had shelled civilian targets. Similar fighting has claimed more than 200 lives in recent weeks.

Libya is in the grip of its worst violence since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Islamist militias from the coastal city of Misrata have led the assault on airport, seeking to seize it from militias from the mountain town of Zintan. The fighters are mainly former rebels who toppled Gaddafi with the aid of Nato air strikes.