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Libya clashes: 'At least 14 dead' around Zuwara | |
(40 minutes later) | |
Clashes between ethnic Berbers and their Arab neighbours have killed at least 14 people and injured many more in Libya, officials say. | Clashes between ethnic Berbers and their Arab neighbours have killed at least 14 people and injured many more in Libya, officials say. |
Fighting has continued for a third day around the predominantly Berber town of Zuwara in western Libya. | Fighting has continued for a third day around the predominantly Berber town of Zuwara in western Libya. |
The National Transitional Council (NTC) has said it is sending forces to intervene and enforce a ceasefire. | The National Transitional Council (NTC) has said it is sending forces to intervene and enforce a ceasefire. |
It has been struggling to assert its authority over tribal groups following the ousting of Col Gaddafi last year. | It has been struggling to assert its authority over tribal groups following the ousting of Col Gaddafi last year. |
There are reports of militiamen from inside Zuwara exchanging mortars and heavy fire with fighters in the nearby Arab areas of Regladin and al-Jumail. | |
Interior Minister Fawzi Abdel A'al told reporters he was "asking the two sides to restrain themselves... because there will be no winner in this battle", Reuters news agency reports. | |
The fighting in Zuwara follows clashes between rival militias in the southern city of Sabha last week which left around 150 people dead. | |
The BBC's Jon Donnison, in Tripoli, says Libya's government lacks any real central authority, or even an army to dispatch. | |
Much of Libya is being policed by heavily-armed militias with long standing tribal and regional rivalries, making it difficult for the NTC to assert control over all of the country ahead of elections in two month's time. |