Army says it will impose order in Kufra following new deadly clashes

Tripoli, 26 February 2013:

The Ministry of Defence has announced that it is going to act “firmly and decisively” against anyone breaking the law in Kufra. The statement following the killing of a senior Zway tribal figure in the town on Sunday.

Abdul-Hamid Al-Kidwa was shot dead near a buffer zone in the town’s Al-Jazeera Al-Khadra district manned by the 17 February brigade. He was reportedly trying to prevent clashes between  Zways and Tebus. It is not clear who killed him. Tebus have denied they were responsible, insisting that he was a much respected figure in the town, that they had good relations with him and that his ex-wife was Tebu.

Another man, named as Ibrahim Mustafa, was said to have been wounded at the same time.

The clashes were sparked by the killing the previous day another Zway citizen who has been named as Mohamed Ali Abu-Gharara. It is alleged he was killed by Tebus.  One report has him being killed when his car was targeted and attacked by a Tebu group. Another has him being shot when he refused an army demand that he stop his vehicle.

Kufra has been the scene of recurrent  clashes for over a year between Zways and Tebus.  Today, it was reported calm but tense.