WHO: Death toll from fighting over Libyan capital now at 205

FILE - This Sept. 21, 2018 file photo, shows fighters under the UN-backed government on the front lines during clashes in southern Tripoli. Libya is on the verge of an all-out war involving a rogues’ gallery of militias, many of which are little more than criminal gangs armed with heavy weapons. The self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, launched a surprise offensive to retake Tripoli on April 5, 2019 from the transitional government supported by U.N. and Western nations led by Fayez Sarraj. (AP Photo/Mohamed Ben Khalifa, File)

BENGHAZI, Libya – The World Health Organization says the death toll from this month's fighting between rival Libyan factions for control of the country's capital, Tripoli, has risen to 205.

The clashes threaten to ignite a civil war on the scale of the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

WHO said Wednesday it's deploying medical specialists, including surgeons needed to treat the wounded, whose number has reached 913. It wasn't clear how many among the dead are civilians.

Fighting over Tripoli erupted earlier this month, pitting the self-styled Libyan National Army, which is led by commander Khalifa Hifter and aligned with a rival government based in the country's east, against militias affiliated with Tripoli's U.N.-supported government.

The U.N. says more than 25,000 people have been displaced in the clashes.