Libyan protesters march during a demonstration calling on militiamen to leave, in Tripoli yesterday.
TRIPOLI: At least 13 people killed and more than 130 were wounded in hours of clashes between militiamen, police and armed residents in the Libyan capital of Tripoli yesterday, state news agency Lana said.
The ministry of health called on people to donate blood as wounded continued to arrive at hospitals, Lana said.
Violence erupted when gunmen fired at hundreds of demonstrators carrying white flags from inside villages in the southern Tripoli district of Gharghour where the Misurata militia has its headquarters.
The shooting sparked a violent response in which armed men assaulted the villas and set them on fire. A spokesman for the health ministry said “the toll has widened to five dead and 50 wounded”, updating an earlier toll. But the national news agency Lana gave a higher toll of seven killed and 75 wounded.
A witness, who identified himself only as Ibrahim, said “most of the members of the militia barricaded themselves inside one single villa, but the noose is tightening around them.”
He later said the militiamen had evacuated the final villa and fled, adding that some militiamen had been wounded and others arrested. Other witnesses said heavy gunfire could be heard in Gharghour and that smoke was rising from the district.
The militias are holdovers from the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Moamer Kadhafi and are a powerful force in the increasingly lawless North African country.
Sadat Al Badri, president of Tripoli’s city council, which called for the protest, said the shots fired at demonstrators came from inside the headquarters.
“Tensions are on the rise in Tripoli. We’re going to announce a general strike and launch a civil disobedience campaign until these militias leave,” he said.
In sermons at weekly Muslim prayers earlier in the day, imams backed the call to protest against militias issued by the town hall as well as Libya’s mufti, the highest religious authority. Hundreds of people carrying white flags in a sign of peace, as well as the national flag, and singing the national anthem had assembled in the capital’s Meliana Square.
“No to militias,” their banners read. “Yes to the police and army.”
The protesters, among them children, then marched to the Misrata militia headquarters in Gharghour district to press their demands when gunmen inside fired into the air to scare them off.
When the crowd continued to approach the building, the gunmen started firing at them, said a correspondent who saw two wounded, including one hit in the stomach. A rocket also crashed into the main road near the demonstrators, without causing casualties, the correspondent said.
A leader of the militia from Misurata, east of the capital, told private television channel Al Naba the demonstrators had opened fire first.
With tensions running high, pick-ups loaded with anti-aircraft guns headed for the area of the militia headquarters later Friday, witnesses said, although it was unclear which force was involved.
Regular security forces were not sighted, apart from the air force making low passes over the capital. The mufti, Sadok al-Ghariani, appealed to residents to go home to avoid further bloodshed, while the health ministry called for blood donations to Tripoli hospitals.
The march was sparked by violence on November 7 in which the Misrata militia also played a central role and which terrorised Tripoli residents and illustrated again growing instability in Libya.
AFP
