Four Killed as Militias Spar in Tripoli

Misrata Rebels Attack Tripoli Faction's Compound

At least four people were killed today in the Libyan capital of Tripoli when members of the Misrata rebel faction attacked a compound belonging to a local Tripoli militia, nominally a seize a group of prisoners.

The compound was at one point an intelligence center for the Gadhafi regime, and reports from the city say that members of the militia were combing the city looking for members of Misrata’s faction, with at least one captured and beaten.

Abdulhakim Belhaj, the Islamist head of the military reported that a number of people have been detained related to the clashes, which are just the latest in a long line of incidents in the capital since the Gadhafi regime’s ouster.

Misrata’s notoriously aggressive rebels, as well as those from Zintan, have been of particular issue in Tripoli, where they have repeatedly clashed with rivals and public protests were even reported complaining that they have been bullying the locals.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.