TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The U.S. Embassy and European missions in Tripoli on Friday expressed concern over the escalating violence in Libya, where a renegade general’s offensive against Islamists threatens to further split the North African nation.

The statement came as thousands of residents took to the streets in the Libyan capital and in the restive eastern city of Benghazi in support of renegade Gen. Khalifa Hifter, waiving Libyan flags and chanting his name.