Tribe Claims: Clashes leave 100 dead in Libya

TRIPOLI: Fierce clashes between two tribes in Libya’s remote southeastern desert have killed more than 100 people over the past 10 days, tribal sources said on Tuesday. At least 113 people from the Toubu tribe and another 23 from the Zwai tribe have been killed in the town of Kufra since fighting erupted on February 12, the sources said. “We are under siege since a week. Since the start of the clashes, 113 people (from our side) have been killed, including six children,” Toubu chief Issa Abdelmajid told AFP by telephone. He said another 241 members of his tribe have been wounded. Abdelmajid, a former opponent of Moamer Kadhafi who fought the slain dictator’s forces in last year’s conflict, was previously tasked by the ruling National Transitional Council with monitoring Libya’s southeastern border. At least 23 people from the Zwai tribe have also been killed and another 53 wounded in the clashes, said sources from Zwai tribe.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2012.