Some 3,000 camels exported from Australia to Libya have been evacuated from the port of Tripoli after it was hit by rocket fire.

Libya's capital city Tripoli is where the UN-backed government is based, and it has been under siege for almost a year by forces loyal to renegade Gen Khalifa Haftar whose stronghold is in the east of the country.

Reuters news agency reports that the camels were herded westwards out of the port shortly after midnight on Wednesday towards the city of Zawiya, about 45 km (30 miles) away, where they arrived on Thursday morning.

But some camels were stolen on the way, according to Reuters. It quotes a local merchant as saying 125 of the animals were seized by an armed group as they passed through Janzour, a suburb of Tripoli.

Footage of the camels leaving Tripoli en masse has been shared widely on social media:

Some 3,000 camels were evacuated from the port in Tripoli in Libya after artillery fire threatened the area, according to local reports. https://t.co/A0zu3RFBEJ pic.twitter.com/tqUxYhFhor

— ABC News (@ABC) February 20, 2020