Libyan police said inmates staged a mass escape from a jail on Tuesday while armed clashes erupted nearby in two cities west of the capital Tripoli. The Tripoli-based Judicial Police Authority ‌said in a statement that the mass escape happened at Surman jail and that it had launched an investigation into the incident. The clashes took place in Zawiya ‌and ⁠Surman between rival armed groups. Zawiya, 40 km (25 miles) west of Tripoli, is home to Libya’s largest functioning Azzawiya refinery, with a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day. Unverified footage on the internet and local TV channels showed large plumes of black smoke ⁠billowing in the sky, and other clips contained heavy gunfire across Surman and Zawiya.