The United Nations migration agency on Monday said it was trying to provide assistance to large numbers of migrants who have been stuck in Libya due to the conflict there.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it was seeking to help migrants who had been held in the smuggling hub of Sabratha as rival factions battled for control of the city.
According to IOM, at least 4,000 migrants, including pregnant women, newborn babies and unaccompanied children, have been transferred from informal camps and dormitories to a hangar in the city since the clashes ended on Friday.
Sabratha has been the most preferred departing point for migrants attempting to reach Europe through the Mediterranean Sea.
The number of crossings has however dropped sharply since July after an armed group struck a deal with officials from the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli to block departures, under pressure from Italy and other European Union member states.
It is that move that is reported to have sparked weeks of fighting among rival factions which ended with the withdrawal of the armed group. The migrants who have since been rounded up were being held at sites that the group had controlled, local officials said.
Some migrants are being sent on to detention centres elsewhere in western Libya that are nominally under the control of the Tripoli government.
IOM officials say those centres, which were housing some 5,000 migrants, risk being overwhelmed by the new arrivals. Conditions in the centres are often dire and abuse widespread.
Libya has been dogged by chaos since the 2011 ouster and death of long-serving leader Muammar Gaddafi. His death created a void that was exploited by armed groups, smugglers and jihadists.
