Libya’s new leadership yesterday pressed a campaign to clear the capital of armed Muammar Gaddafi loyalists after gunbattles killed three people in the first fighting to rock Tripoli since its capture in August.
The head of Tripoli’s supreme military council, Abdelhakim Belhaj, pledged tough action against the pro-Gaddafi fighters and “sleeper cells” of the former regime, which he said would be targeted in the clean-up operation.
Pro-Gaddafi gunmen last Friday clashed with fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council (NTC) in Abu Salim, a district around 10 kilometres south of the city centre known to harbour supporters of the fugitive leader.
“The fighters are in the process of clearing the buildings in the area of Gaddafi loyalists,” said Hamad, 40, an NTC soldier manning one of the checkpoints in the neighbourhood.
He said they had already found evidence that the Gaddafi loyalists had been preparing for the clashes, including sand bags and flak jackets on the roofs of apartment blocks.
Abdelrazaq al-Aradi, vice-president of the security committee in Tripoli, said three people were killed in the clashes there – two Gaddafi loyalists and one NTC fighter – and another 30 people wounded.
Aradi told a news conference that around 50 armed Gaddafi supporters were behind the violence, 27 of whom, including four “African mercenaries,” were arrested last Friday.
Abu Salim residents said the fighting broke out during pro-Gaddafi demonstrations after noon Muslim prayers, prompted by a call to rise from a pro-Gaddafi Libyan television presenter earlier in the week, broadcast on Iraqi TV channel Al-Rai.
The district, notorious for its prison where the Gaddafi regime held its opponents, was the last area of the capital to witness resistance after NTC forces stormed the veteran strongman’s sprawling and fortified Bab al-Aziziya headquarters on August 23.
Clashes were also reported in other parts of Tripoli, although a senior official in the military council claimed they were “very limited” in scope and had been swiftly brought under control.
The flare-up came as a setback to the new regime, which hopes to proclaim the country’s liberation within days, and prepare for the transition to an elected government, when Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte is finally captured by NTC forces.