By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 19 April 2104:
Sirte was quiet this afternoon after some 18 hours of clashes . . .[restrict]which left one member of the security forces dead at least eight wounded, two of them seriously.
According to a prominent local official who did not want to be named, the clashes started last night between No.10 Battalion, Central Libya Shield forces, who have been responsible for securing Sirte’s downtown area, and a group believed to be from Ansar Al-Sharia. The group were trying to take control of the area, the official said.
Local elders started negotiations to calm the situation and by noon today succeded.
The official’s condemnation was reserved for the government, not for the militants.
“I blame the Ministry of Interior”, he said, “because they haven’t supported the security directorate of Sirte with equipment so that it can secure the town”.
According to the Libyan news agency LANA, one of the places targeted by the attackers because of the presence of the Central Shield forces was the entrance to the town’s Ibn Sina Hospital.
Ansar Al-Sharia have a training camp near Sirte and have been a growing strength in the town in recent months. [/restrict]
