LIBYA: At least three people are killed and 10 others wounded after Libyan militiamen opened fire on protesters who had marched to their headquarters in Tripoli to demand they leave the city

Record ID: 862249

  • Title: LIBYA: At least three people are killed and 10 others wounded after Libyan militiamen opened fire on protesters who had marched to their headquarters in Tripoli to demand they leave the city
  • Date: 15th November 2013
  • Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (NOVEMBER 15, 2013) (REUTERS) PEOPLE RUNNING AWAY GROUP OF PEOPLE AND MAN DRESSED IN MILITARY COSTUME CAPTURING ONE MAN AND SURROUNDING HIM PROTESTERS WALKING AROUND / ONE CIVILIAN CARRYING RPG SHELL
  • Embargoed: 30th November 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • City:
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA9EGQJEQWX04U5AUGW96S6HKXP
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: At least three people were killed and 10 others wounded in Tripoli on Friday (November 15) when militiamen opened fire on hundreds of protesters who had marched on their brigade headquarters to demand that they leave the Libyan capital, a Reuters witness said.
    The Reuters reporter saw three bodies with gunshot wounds at a Tripoli hospital and at least 25 others wounded.
    Libyan police and armed local residents battled to control the militiamen in an area on the road to Tripoli's international airport.
    The Reuters reporter at the scene said at least one of the wounded had been hit by a shell fired from an anti-aircraft gun which the militias often use attached to the back of jeeps.
    One man covered in blood was being carried away by a group of people.
    People were seen running and hiding in the aftermath of the violence. Others continued marching on the brigade's headquarters.
    Libya has tried to co-opt the militias by putting them on the government payroll and drafting them to provide security in Tripoli and other cities. But the gunmen often remain loyal to their commanders rather than to the authorities.
    Clashes between rival militias still break out in the capital, where Libya's nascent armed forces are still in training and cannot challenge the heavily armed militiamen.
    Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has called for more foreign training for his military. Highlighting Libya's chaos, the premier himself was briefly abducted in October by a militia group on the government payroll.
    Libya is struggling to contain scores of rival militia gangs and former fighters who refuse to disarm and who pose a challenge to the central government two years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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