Rival militias from western Libya clashed Wednesday in the coastal town of Zuwara for a fourth consecutive day, with scores of people cut down in a hail of anti-aircraft and mortar fire that the country’s interim authorities appear powerless to contain.
The fighting, pitting Zuwara’s ethnic Berbers against Arab militiamen from the neighboring cities of al-Jumail and Regdalin, highlights the extent to which tensions from last year’s war persist despite the fall of longtime leader Moammar Kadafi.
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A small contingent of soldiers were deployed Monday to Zuwara, about 70 miles west of the capital, Tripoli. The troops quickly drew fire and appeared hapless in the face of the onslaught.
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The transitional government’s ongoing efforts to negotiate a cease-fire have yet to bring any results as fears mount of further violence.
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Further underscoring the nation’s instability, inter-tribal violence in the southern town of Sabha has escalated the past week, leaving about 150 people dead.
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Since the fall of Kadafi, Libya has split into a series of fiefdoms in which heavily-armed militias, largely unaccountable and livid for retribution, have become the law of the land.
LA Times
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