Saturday 19 February 2011

Security forces pull back in Libyan city: witness

Security forces in Libya's second city killed at least three people on Saturday but have withdrawn to a fortified compound, a witness said, after the worst unrest in Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power. Skip related content
Human Rights Watch said 84 people have been killed over the past three days in a fierce security crackdown mounted in response to anti-government protests that sought to emulate uprisings in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia.
There was no sign of a nationwide revolt, with the violence concentrated around the city of Benghazi, 1,000 km (600 miles) east of the capital, where support for Gaddafi traditionally has been weaker than in the rest of the country.
A resident in Benghazi said security forces which killed dozens of protesters over the past 72 hours were confined to a compound, which he called the Command Centre, from which snipers were firing at protesters.
"They shot dead three protesters from that building today," the witness, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters.
"Right now, the only military presence in Benghazi is confined to the Command Centre Complex in the city. The rest of the city is liberated," he said.
"Thousands and thousands of people have gathered in front of Benghazi's court house. There are now makeshift clinics, ambulances, speakers, electricity. It's fully-equipped."
"There is no shortage of food although not all stores are open. Banks are shut. All of the revolutionary committee (local government) offices and police stations in the city have been burnt," he said.
The account could not be independently verified. A security source earlier gave a different account, saying the situation in the Benghazi region was "80 percent under control."
The private Quryna newspaper, which is based in Benghazi and has been linked to one of Gaddafi's sons, said 24 people were killed in Benghazi on Friday.Read More

No comments:

Why cows may be hiding something but AI can spot it

  By Chris Baraniuk Technology of Business reporter Published 22 hours ago Share IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Herd animals like...