LIBYA: Rival Libya militias clash near Tripoli security building

Record ID: 353721

  • Title: LIBYA: Rival Libya militias clash near Tripoli security building
  • Date: 4th November 2012
  • Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (NOVEMBER 4, 2012) (REUTERS) VIEW OF BUILDING WHERE MILITANTS ARE SAID TO BE BROKEN WINDOW WITH BULLET HOLE PEOPLE STANDING FOR COVER NEAR MAIN ENTRANCE OF HOSPITAL MORE OF WINDOW WITH BROKEN GLASS PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET NEAR HOSPITAL VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING BETWEEN BUILDINGS WHERE RPG MISSILE FELL IN RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBOURHOOD EXTERIOR OF HOSPITAL IN AL-
  • Embargoed: 19th November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4LRVEEZR1JXBPW8HCW7IMPVGW
  • Story Text: A gunbattle between two Libyan rival militias rages near a Tripoli security headquarters building.


    A gunbattle between two Libyan rival militias raged around a Tripoli security headquarters building on Sunday (November 4), highlighting the precariousness of peace in the capital more than a year after a popular armed revolt ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.
    At least five people were wounded in the clash, and a bullet pierced into a nearby hospital, causing panic.
    "The number of casualties since yesterday is around five cases. We received the latest case this morning -- it was a doctor who had just ended his shift and just as he was leaving he was hit with shrapnel in his chest," said doctor Ezz Eddin Ahmed, who works at the hospital.
    Residents in the south Tripoli district of Sidi Khalifa said the fight erupted just after midnight on Sunday when two militia units authorised by the official Supreme Security Committee got into an argument over a detained member of one of the militias.
    A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was fired at the SSC base, damaging the building. The militia based in a post office building returned fire with another RPG.
    Gunfire rang through the neighbourhood as civilians were forced to block off the al-Zawiya street where the fighting raged, to prevent cars from driving into the battleground. Many civilians went home to get their own private arms.
    A bullet shot through the building caused panic at the nearby Tripoli Central Hospital, with doctors and nurses running for cover. Dr. Khaled Ben Nour said five casualties from the fighting had been brought in.
    Libya's rulers have struggled to control semi-official armed groups who are competing for power and outgun the police and army in the north African country a year after Gaddafi's fall.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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