By Ashraf Abdul Wahab.
Tripoli, 12 March 2014:
An armed attack on a disused pharmaceutical plant in Ghariyan has left two dead and . . .[restrict]three injured.
Two of the nine people who attacked the Arrabita pharmaceutical factory on Monday were killed during an ensuing firefight. Two Libyan Army soldiers and one of the perpetrators were also injured in the incident and the other six attackers were arrested.
The factory was not currently used, Commander of the Nafusa Mountain Guard Mohamed Shnaiba said. He added that armed forces had been guarding the premises to prevent factory equipment and machinery being stolen.
Shnaiba expressed surprise over the incident as the factory contained nothing that could be easily stolen. He added that the perpetrators had not admitted why they staged the attack.
The factory gained notoriety in the 1980s when it was suspected of being used to manufacture chemical weapons and the US apparently threatened to target the plant. [/restrict]