GHAITH SHENNIB AND ULF LAESSING | REUTERS
Published — Friday 8 November 2013
ARABNEWS

TRIPOLI: Anti-aircraft gunfire and grenade blasts erupted in several parts of Tripoli late on Thursday, the second time this week that fighting between rival militia groups has rocked the Libyan capital.

A security source told Reuters that a heavily-armed group from the central city of Misrata had entered the capital to take revenge for one of its fighters who was killed in a shootout in Tripoli on Tuesday.

Two years after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi, militia that helped oust him now control large part of the North African country and regularly fight each other.

On Tuesday, rival gunmen battled for hours on the capital’s streets. Three people were wounded and one, a leader of a Misrata militia, later died — prompting the revenge attack, the source said.

On Thursday, fighters in a Toyota truck mounted with an anti-aircraft gun shouted “Allah Akbar” (God is great) while driving at great speed near the foreign ministry.

Tracers from anti-aircraft guns could be seen marking targets in the eastern Suq Al-Juma district and several other parts of Tripoli, followed by loud explosions. Several residential buildings were hit.

Rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fire could be also heard near the foreign ministry and state television building in a central coastal district.

Some 30 residents carrying guns and RPGs rushed out of their houses near the ministry. Others set up a checkpoint on a main road in a bid to stop more militiamen entering central parts of Tripoli.

“They’re stopping any car from Misrata,” one resident told Reuters, while anti-aircraft rounds flew overhead.
In the Suq Al-Juma area, residents tore down street light lamps to build makeshift barricades to prevent more militiamen entering the area, witnesses said by telephone.

“Militiamen are firing RPGs from a bridge on the Misrata fighters,” a resident said.

Libya’s government is finding it harder to contain former fighters and Islamist militants in a country awash with weapons.

Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has sought to co-opt militia that helped topple Qaddafi by integrating them and their weapons from the NATO-backed revolt into the nascent army and police. But in practice, most continue to report to their own commanders or tribes.

Strikes and armed protests by militia and tribal gunmen demanding payments or political rights have also shut much of the OPEC member’s oil output for months and deprived the government of its key source of income.

source: ARABNEWS

The first batch of newly graduated Libyan border guards celebrate at the end of their graduation ceremony on Nov. 7, 2013 in Tripoli. Libya’s government is facing a challenge from militias who helped topple the late strongman Muammar Qaddafi. (AFP)