Gun-Battle in Central Tripoli as Libyan Militias Accuse Rivals of Going ‘Rogue’

Revolutionaries 'Still Think They're Revolutionaries'

by Jason Ditz, November 04, 2012

A major gun-battle has erupted in the center of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, with pro-government militias going after another militia that they accused of having “gone rogue” and no longer following the orders of the new regime.

“The problem is that the revolutionaries still think they’re revolutionaries, not employees who march to orders,” insisted one of the officials of the militia union that runs the city, and which said the group they were attacking is no longer a “legitimate” militia.

The various militias across Libya regularly battle from city to city, but the new battle is unusual as it is centered around a self-proclaimed leadership union’s estimation of which militias are technically militias in a single city.

Usually the fighting involves pro-government militias accusing a rival of being “pro-Gadhafi,” even though he is long dead, but in this case they aren’t making any such allegation, instead accusing the group of being “lawless.”

Eight people, including police, have been injured as militias continue to attack the “rogue” faction, which has barricaded itself into the former intelligence headquarters. Several buildings in the neighborhood have also been looted, though it isn’t clear who is doing the looting.

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