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By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 15 May 2014:
One person died and 12 were wounded in Sebha last night as clashes erupted between members of the Misratan-led Third Force and insurgents from the Al-Gurda district in Sebha.
“The clashes first flared up when a resident refused to wait in the queue at the petrol station. Members of the Third Force were in charge of securing the petrol station, and when a soldier tried to force a man to respect the queue, the man pulled out a Kalashnikov and started shooting. He injured three soldiers,” the Third Force spokesperson, Ala Al-Huwaik, told the Libya Herald.
“The Third Force members fired back and injured him, and he died just as he reached the hospital. The family of the man then entered the hospital and started shooting Third Force members,” explained Al-Huwaik.
Members of the Third Force were deployed to Sebha in February in an effort to put an end to the communal clashes between Tebu and the Awlad Suleiman tribe in January which Qaddafi sympathisers then used to try and take control of the town.
Overall, the Third Force has been successful in enforcing peace and restoring order. However, tesidents of Al-Gurda district are now taking up arms against the peacekeepers.
The man who attacked Third Force members was alleged to have been dealing in drugs. “The attacker was drug dealer, supported by his friends and relatives,” added Al-Huwaik.
“Insurgents from Al-Gurda are now controlling strategic areas in the town and sniping at Third Force members, and orders have been issued to the Third Force to use lethal force against the insurgents to defend themselves,” warned Al-Huwaik.
Recently, the Third Force, in conjunction with the Misrata Shoura Council of Elders, succeded in brokering a peace deal between the warring Tebu and Awlad Suleiman tribes, convincing both groups to withdraw from strategic areas around the town. [/restrict]
