6/09/2013

28 dead as ex-Libya rebel HQ attacked

A Libyan protester holds a gun during clashes between demonstrators and troops of the Libyan Shield Forces (LSF), a coalition of militias, in the northern city of Benghazi on June 8, 2013. At least 28 people were killed and 60 were wounded when demonstrators attacked the headquarters of the LSF, former rebels who had fought to oust Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi
Πηγή: ninemsn
June 9 2013

At least 28 people have been killed and 60 have been wounded when demonstrators attacked the headquarters in Benghazi of former rebels who had fought to oust Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a hospital official said.

"We have so far identified 28 people dead and some 60 injured," a doctor at the Al-Jala hospital in the eastern city told AFP, more than doubling an earlier toll.

Fighting erupted on Saturday after dozens of demonstrators, some of them armed, tried to dislodge the powerful "Shield of Libya" brigade from its barracks in Benghazi, said an AFP correspondent at the scene.

They encircled the headquarters and called on regular security forces to step in.

Libya's post-Gaddafi authorities, who have still not managed to form a professional new army and police corps, often call on the "Shield of Libya" to intervene in the various tribal conflicts that trouble the country.

Adel Tarhuni, spokesman for the Shield of Libya group, said one member of the brigade had died and another seven were wounded.

Tarhuni also defended the "legitimacy" of the brigade, saying it officially came under the umbrella of the defence ministry.

He reported that a peaceful demonstration in front of the brigade's headquarters had been infiltrated by armed aggressors.

The gunmen then opened fire on the Shield of Libya building and threw improvised explosives, Tarhuni told television station Libya Al-Ahrar.

Armed forces spokesman Colonel Ali al-Shikhi told Lana the brigade was "a reserve force of the Libyan army", and that an attack on them was equivalent to an "attack on the legitimate authorities".

Shikhi said the incident was "very serious", and called on restraint from all parties.

Overnight on Saturday, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said the Shield of Libya members had left their headquarters and the regular army had taken over the location and taken charge of the heavy weaponry it found there.

Speaking on national television, Zeidan announced the opening of an inquiry into the incident, calling for calm on all sides.



No comments:

Post a Comment