The government in Paris did not expect the Libyan National Army (LNA)’s advance on Tripoli, French diplomatic sources told Reuters on Monday.
They added Paris has no interest to disrupt the peace process in Libya, and will not do so in any way.
It comes following media reports claiming that France encouraged the eastern Libyan forces to enter the capital ahead of the U.N.-organized National Forum scheduled for mid-April.
The sources stressed that France believes the protection of civilians in Tripoli is top priority and calls on rival parties to revive political talks and solve the internal crisis peacefully.
LNA forces said Sunday they carried out their first air strike on a suburb of Tripoli, where fighters loyal to the rival U.N.-backed administration announced a “counteroffensive” to defend the capital.
The announcement of the air raid was made on the Facebook page of the media office of the LNA as fighting raged around 50 kilometers south of Tripoli.
The LNA has pressed on with the assault since Thursday despite international calls to halt hostilities.
The unrest in Libya deepened at the weekend after the U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli said it would launch a counterattack against the LNA, originally based in the east of the country.
At least 24 people have been reported killed, including six civilians, and 144 injured, including four civilians, since the erupt of Tripoli clashes, according to a Monday report by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.
About 440 families have been displaced, and many others have fled to relatives’ homes as fighting comes closer to urban areas. Several hundred migrants are detained in the southern outskirts of Tripoli and their safety is at risk, the report added.
