By Seraj Essul and Edrees Ejeebji
Tripoli, 26 August 2013:
An apparently carefully-planned rocket and gun attack on Sebha’s main police station left . . .[restrict]12 people injured, including one of the attackers.
The assault came in two stages. The first was the launching of a rocket-propelled grenade at the building at 11:30 pm on Sunday. The device caused no injuries. However, two hours later, while police and crowds were examining the damage, a further assault was launched. While gunmen drove up to the front of the police station and sprayed it with bullets, a second RPG was launched from the rooftop of a neighbouring building.
It was this weapon and the debris and shrapnel from its explosion that showered down onto people at ground level, that caused most of the casualties. Seven policemen were hurt along with four civilians.
The spokesman for the Sebha Security Directorate, who asked not to be named, told the Libya Herald that he believed that the gun attack had been a diversion, to allow the assailant with the RPG to get into position on the rooftop. “It was done to distract the attention of the policemen” he said.
Officers returned the fire from the cars, which then fled the scene. “We believe that we wounded at least one of the attackers, ” said the spokesman, “because when we went to where they had shot at us, we found blood and fragments of glass”.
The eleven injured were treated in Sebha hospital, then flown early this morning to Tunisia for further treatment.
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