2 die, 16 hurt in Libya clashes

GHARYAN, Libya — Clashes between rival Libyan militias have killed two people and wounded 16, in the latest violence involving armed groups refusing to hand in their weapons.

The clashes began late on Friday and continued yesterday.

“We received eight cases yesterday, including one dead who was shot in the head and chest, one critical with a head wound and six others lightly injured,” said Ibrahim Karim, a doctor at the main hospital in Gharyan, 80 km south of Tripoli.

Muhammed Hassan, a doctor at the same hospital, said another person had died and nine others had been taken to the hospital yesterday, two in a “very critical condition”.

A Reuters correspondent at the scene saw ambulances and pick-up trucks stream into the hospital grounds carrying the injured, including an unconscious teenager in civilian clothing. He said he could hear gunfire nearby.

Libya’s interim government is struggling to control disparate militias which played a key role in toppling Muammar Gaddafi but are now refusing to disarm, saying they are suspicious of the country’s new rulers.

Militia members from Gharyan say they are fighting adversaries in Assabia, 16 km away, whom they accuse of being pro-gaddafi.

Fighters from Assabia could not be reached yesterday for comment. Since Gaddafi’s death, various militias have clashed over land and minor disputes and often each side accuses the other of still supporting the dead dictator.

A spokesman for Gharyan city council said clashes started when fighters from nearby Assabia stopped two civilians, stripped one naked and stabbed the other in the leg.

“Revolutionaries in Gharyan started to amass their weapons late on Friday. By 5 pm, Assabia (fighters) started shooting heavy artillery at Gharyan,” he said, adding that the opposing militias clashed briefly in September. — Reuters