Forces loyal to Libya's officially recognised government has carried out air strikes on targets in Misrata today in the first such attacks on the city.

Officials and residents said that the airstrikes were targeted on allies of an armed group that seized the capital Tripoli in the summer.

Libya has been engulfed in fighting between the two sides, each with its own government and parliament.

The internationally recognised Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni has been forced to run his government from the in the east since a group known as Libya Dawn took control of Tripoli in August, setting up a rival government and parliament.

Mohamed El Hejazi, spokesman for armed forces loyal to Thinni, said his air force had attacked Misrata's port, an air force academy near the airport and Libya's biggest steel plant, which is located in the western city.

Ismail Shukri, spokesman for forces allied to Libya Dawn, confirmed that air strikes had taken place but said they caused no damage.

"The airport at Misrata is still working normally. A flight has just taken off," he said.

Misrata, 200 km east of Tripoli, is linked to Libya Dawn and home to a major sea port and free trade zone. The city had so far escaped the fighting that has threatened to break up Libya.

 Libya FM calls oil region clashes serious escalation 

The air strikes came two weeks after a force allied to Libya Dawn moved east to try seize the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf oil ports.

Libya's foreign minister in the internationally recognized government says extremist groups are escalating their, including a renewed push to control oil resources, calling for concerted international efforts to stem the flow of money and weapons to them.

Fighting has erupted around Libya's largest oil terminal, Sidra, which is currently under the control of anti-Islamist militiamen allied with the internationally recognized Tobruk-based government.

It followed an announcement from the rival Tripoli-based government in mid-December to "liberate" Sidra. The clashes have forced the shutdown of the Sidra terminal, and set storage tanks there ablaze.

Foreign Minister Mohamed Dayri, speaking today in Cairo, called the clashes a serious escalation. He said troops loyal to his government hope to fend off the attack, in which terrorist groups are involved.