About 120 prisoners escaped from a jail in Tripoli on Monday, National Guard chief Khaled al-Sharif told AFP, adding that Libyan security services were on high alert to catch them.
The justice ministry controls Al-Jadaida prison which is reserved for common criminals. In August there was a mutiny at the facility in which two inmates were hurt.
Libyan authorities have retaken control of several prisons, including Al-Jadaida, which were previously in the hands of former rebels who fought Muammar Gaddafi's forces last year's revolt that deposed him and in which he was killed.