A British navy ship evacuated British nationals from Libya on Sunday, the defense ministry said, as worsening security there is forcing thousands to flee.

The HMS Enterprise, which had been on a Mediterranean deployment,  evacuated 110 people, mostly British, from the capital Tripoli, ambassador to Libya Michael Aron wrote on Twitter.

Clashes erupted overnight on Saturday between the army and masked gunmen in the northern city of Tripoli, reported the National News Agency on Sunday.

It said that fierce fighting broke out when gunmen opened fire at army positions on Syria Street, the Starco, Brad al-Bisar, al-Ghoraba, Talaat al-Omari, and al-Qobbeh areas.

Lebanese security forces have arrested a woman in the northern city of Tripoli after discovering an explosive belt and drugs in her home, a security source told Agence France-Presse on Friday.

The Lebanese woman, who was not named, is in her thirties and married to a Syrian who is currently in prison in Lebanon for firing at soldiers, the source said.

Unknown kidnappers on Wednesday seized a Filipina nurse in the Libyan capital, held her for several hours and raped her, medics and security officials said.

A health ministry statement said the incident could push the Philippines government to speed up the evacuation of its citizens, 3,000 of whom work in Libya as doctors and nurses, as the country sinks further into chaos.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said that he will hold talks with Defense Minister Samir Moqbel and Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi to implement a cabinet decision to abolish lists of wanted individuals.

In remarks to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Tuesday, al-Mashnouq said his meeting with Moqbel, who is also the deputy PM, and Rifi will come after the Eid al-Fitr holidays, which end on Wednesday.

Libya said a second fuel depot caught fire Monday in Tripoli, in a "very dangerous" development following a huge oil tank blaze triggered by clashes around the capital's airport.

"The situation is very dangerous after a second fire broke out at another petroleum depot," the government said, warning of a "disaster with unforeseeable consequences".

Libya on Monday denied claims from Cairo that Egyptian nationals were among those killed in a rocket attack on a house in Tripoli at the weekend.

Egypt's foreign ministry had said a rocket hit a house in the capital on Saturday, killing 23 people, including several Egyptians.

The next ministerial coordination meeting of major host countries of Syrian refugees will take place in Lebanon, reported An Nahar daily on Friday.

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas announced during Thursday's cabinet session that the conference will be held in the northern city of Tripoli in September.

An Australian woman of Lebanese origin was barred from leaving Lebanon after her ex-husband's family filed a complaint against her claiming she has been visiting her “boyfriend” in the northern city of Tripoli since arriving in the country on June 20.

Mahassen Issa, 29 and mother of two minors, was supposed to return to Australia last week. But right before her departure, she was contacted by Lebanese authorities informing her that she has been charged with adultery, British newspaper The Guardian reported.

The army carried out on Tuesday raids in the al-Mankoubin neighborhood in the northern city of Tripoli in search of wanted suspects, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

It said that the raid was accompanied by the deployment of army units on al-Ahram Street in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood.