TRIPOLI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Libya's east-based army said on Sunday that it repelled an attack of the UN-backed government in the south of the capital Tripoli, as the armed conflict between the two parties continues.

"The armed forces repelled an attack of the government forces in al-Ahya al-Barrya (in southern Tripoli)," the army's information office said in a statement.

The statement confirmed that a number of the government troops were either killed or captured.

The army has been leading a military campaign since early April to take over Tripoli from the government.

According to the World Health Organization, the fighting has so far killed nearly 1,000 people and injured more than 5,000 others, while more than 100,000 fled their homes because of the armed conflict.

Libya has been suffering escalating violence and political instability ever since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.