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At least 30 die in Libya clashes

March 27, 2012

The death toll in violence between rival militias in the southern Libyan oasis city of Sabha has risen to at least 30. The ethnic dispute was sparked when a man was killed in an argument over a car.

https://p.dw.com/p/14T5u
An injured fighter receives treatment at Sabha Hospital after rival militias clashed at the city of Sabha, southern Libya March 26, 2012. Clashes between rival militias in southern Libya raged for a third day on Tuesday and a doctor at the regional hospital said the death toll had risen to 25, highlighting the challenges the government faces in imposing its authority over the country. Picture taken March 26, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer (LIBYA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST HEALTH) Date created:27/03/12 14:20Byline: STRINGERCity: TRIPOLICountry name: LibyaCountry code:LBY
Ghasem SoleymanImage: Reuters

A doctor at a regional hospital on Tuesday said that the death toll in violence between ethnic Tabu fighters and gunmen from Sabha - Libya's fourth largest city - had so far reached 34.

"The hospital crew has been working around the clock since Monday night and the injured keep coming in," Ibrahim Misbah told the Reuters news agency.

Later reports put the number of dead at as high as 50, with more than 100 people said to have been wounded.

Colonel Mohammed Bussif, head of national security in Sabha, was reported to have described a "dramatic situation," blaming "outlaws backed by elements from outside the country."

A Libyan Interior Ministry official said 300 soldiers stationed in southern Libya had on Monday been sent to help restore calm, with another 300 having left Tripoli on Tuesday.

Clashes sparked after ex-militiaman killed

Fighting broke out on Sunday between former rebel fighters from Sabha and Tabu gunmen, after a Sabha man, a former rebel from the Bussif tribe, was killed in a dispute over a car.

The head of the Tabu tribe has complained that the clashes are part of a plan to "ethnically cleanse" the region of his people. The Tabu, oasis farmers who also live in neighboring Chad and Niger, have in the past been linked to separatist ambitions.

The incident has been highlighted as the latest example of the ruling National Transitional Council struggling to assert its authority across Libya after last year's rebellion that ousted late dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

rc/dfm (Reuters, AFP, AP)