A gunbattle erupted yesterday between hundreds of revolutionary forces and Muammar Gaddafi supporters in the capital for the first time in more than two months.
The clash came after a group tried to raise the green flag that symbolises the ousted leader’s regime.
The fighting began when a group of loyalists carrying the green flag appeared on the streets of Tripoli’s Abu Salim neighbourhood, which houses the notorious prison of the same name.
Shouting “God is Great,” anti-Gaddafi fighters converged on the area, which has long been a loyalist stronghold, in pickups mounted with weapons, setting up checkpoints as heavy gunfire echoed through the streets.
The violence in the capital, which has been relatively calm since then-rebels seized control in late August, underscored the difficulty Libya’s new rulers face in restoring order as Colonel Gaddafi remains on the run.
He has issued several audio recordings from hiding trying to rally supporters against the North African nation’s transitional leadership.
Witnesses said the shooting began after a group of dozens of men and women tried to raise the green flag at the end of a street in the Hay Nasr district.
“I looked out of my window and I saw men and women in a group of 50 to 80 people, carrying the green flag,” said Abadi Omar, a resident in one of the buildings in the area. “They put one of these flags at the end of our street. This is when the rebels came out and these people disappeared.”
Revolutionary forces started searching every building in the area and found weapons on some of the rooftops, many hidden under water tanks, Mr Omar said. Then snipers opened fire and the gunbattle began as anti-Gaddafi fighters gave chase around the closely packed buildings.
Assem al-Bashir, a fighter with Tripoli’s Eagle Brigade, also said revolutionary forces suspected there were snipers in the surrounding high rises after spotting a man trying to raise the green flag. Another fighter, Ahmad al-Warsly, from the Zintan brigade, said several Gaddafi supporters apparently planned a protest but drew fire because they were armed. They then fled and were pursued by revolutionary forces, prompting fierce street battles.