Some 400 prisoners escaped from a jail in the Libyan capital, authorities said Sunday, as fighting between rival militias that has killed dozens of people forced the U.N.-backed government to declare a state of emergency in and around Tripoli.
The inmates overwhelmed guards and forced open the doors of the Ain Zara prison after riots broke out there, police said in a statement posted on Facebook. The prisoners included many supporters of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi who had been found guilty of killings during the 2011 uprising that ended his rule and plunged the country into chaos.
The fighting in Tripoli erupted last week when the Seventh Brigade, militias which hail from Tarhouna, a town about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of Tripoli, attacked southern neighborhoods of the capital. The Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigades and the Nawasi Brigade, militias which support the U.N.-backed government, have come to the city’s defense.
At least 47 people, including civilians, have been killed, and another 130 have been wounded, the Health Ministry said.
The U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Libya, Maria Ribeiro, said the fighting has forced families to flee their homes and expressed concerned for the safety of internally displaced people, refugees and migrants in Tripoli.
Yusuf Jlala, the minister of state for displaced affairs, said the fighting has displaced more than 1,800 families in the Ain Zara neighborhood since the clashes began on Aug. 27. Many are sheltering in schools or with relatives, while others have left the city, he said.
Residents described scenes of…
… Read More
—-
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News