Gunmen loyal to a rogue general have stormed the Libyan parliament after bombarding the building with rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft weapons.
Heavy smoke was seen coming from the building in the country's capital Tripoli. There have been no reports of casualties.
A spokesman for General Khalifa Haftar, a former rebel in the war against Muammar Gaddafi, said his forces were responsible for the raid.
Mohammed al Hegazi told TV channel Alahrar it was carried out in order to arrest Islamists.
He called parliament the "heart of the crisis" in Libya, and added: "This parliament is what supports these extremist Islamist entities.
"The aim was to arrest these Islamist bodies who wear the cloak of politics."
MP Omar Bushah told Reuters news agency gunmen stormed offices in the General National Congress and set it on fire.
A security official said the gunmen also shelled a nearby military base controlled by an Islamist militia.
Roads leading to parliament have been sealed off and residents were seen rushing home.
Gen Haftar's forces have been fighting militants in Benghazi One resident told Reuters the attackers have left and armed locals are now patrolling the area.
Another said gunmen had kidnapped two people from the parliament building.
A spokesman for the Libyan Revolution Operation room, a group of militias who answer to the interim government and are responsible for security in Tripoli, said fighters had engaged the attackers.
The Al Qaaqaa and Sawaaq militias are both based near parliament, and the spokesman said the attackers are thought to be members of the two groups.
They operate under the government's mandate but support non-Islamist political forces.
Libya's parliament is split between Islamist and non-Islamist forces who have argued over choosing a new government and holding fresh elections.
General Hafter is waging an offensive against militants in Libya's second largest city, Benghazi. Fighting there on Friday left 70 dead.
Authorities have accused him of carrying out a coup, but General Hafter has said they have no mandate and has vowed to continue.
Libya's government and army have struggled to impose authority over armed brigades of former rebels and militias since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011.
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