A Dignity Operation senior commander has admitted involvement in the deadly clashes in the western city of Zawiya earlier this week.

The self-proclaimed military governor of east Libya Abdelraziq Al-Nathori said in a footage posted in social media that groups loyal to Dignity Operation have engaged in the fight in Zawiya and they will take control of it.

"The fighting is between terrorist groups and other groups affiliated with Dignity Operation and we will take control of the city in two days," he briefed renegade General Khalifa Haftar shortly after his return from the UAE on Tuesday.

Al-Hanish and Al-Khadrawi armed groups exchanged heavy gunfire in downtown and others parts of the city leaving at least seven people, including kids, dead and many others wounded. The city’s elders announced a ceasefire after three days of fierce clashes.

Reacting to the clahses, Libya’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Sadiq Al-Gharyani warned Zawiya residents of conspiracies being plotted by Khalifa Haftar and his entourage to entice conflict among them.

Dignity Operation is accused of fuelling tribal tension in Libya’s western towns to gain support in a bid to prepare an attack on the capital.