The UN Security Council said in a statement on Monday that it was concerned by the recent escalation in fighting and stressed the need for countries to comply with the UN arms embargo on Libya and cease foreign interference.

The statement was made after UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame said he was "angry" at foreign interference in the war-torn country and that Libyans have "suffered enough." 

"I am really angry to see that everybody wants to talk about Libya and very few people want to talk about the Libyans, what happens to the Libyans," Salame said after a two-hour meeting with the UN Security Council. 

"Enough is enough; the Libyans have suffered enough," he said.  

Asked about Turkey's decision to deploy troops in Libya, Salame answered that the "country is suffering too much from foreign interference in different ways."  

"What I asked these countries is very clear: Keep out of Libya. There is (are) enough weapons in Libya; they don't need extra weapons. There are enough mercenaries in Libya, so stop sending mercenaries, as it is the case right now," he said, estimating the number of foreign fighters in the country to be in the "hundreds, probably thousands."  

"The situation is bleak right now... but let me also emphasize our determination as the UN to try to find a way out," Salame said.

The envoy also said a country supporting Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) was likely responsible for a deadly drone attack on a military academy in Tripoli. 

At least 30 people were killed and dozens wounded in the attack late on Saturday, the Government of National Accord (GNA) said. 

Libyan forces loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar said earlier on Monday they had seized the coastal city of Sirte from factions loyal to the Tripoli government, raising tensions as Turkey said it was deploying troops in the North African country. 

Sirte, some 450 kilometers east of the capital Tripoli, had been held by forces allied with the UN-recognized GNA since 2016. But on Monday, a spokesman for Haftar's LNA said the city had fallen to his fighters within hours.  

"Sirte has been totally liberated," Ahmad al-Mesmari announced on television.  

"The operation was quick and lasted only three hours," Mesmari said, although preparations had started months earlier with airstrikes on positions of pro-GNA forces.  

He said Haftar loyalists struck from five land and sea positions and had air cover. He did not give further details.  

The GNA did not immediately confirm the fall of Sirte, but a pro-GNA military commander in the city, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the loss. 

The oil-rich North African country has been plunged into chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that killed longtime leader Muammar Kadhafi. It is now divided between the GNA based in Tripoli and Haftar's forces in the east, which also controls most of the country's south.  

Tensions escalated last year when Haftar launched an operation in January to "purge" southern Libya "of terrorist groups and criminals" and seized several towns with support from local tribes.  

Haftar then set his eyes on Tripoli, launching an offensive on the capital in April to unseat the GNA.  

The GNA has sought help from Turkey, whose parliament passed a bill allowing the government to send troops to Libya to shore up the Tripoli government. On Sunday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his soldiers had begun deploying in Libya.

(With input from AFP, Reuters)