By Jamal Adel.
Kufra, 30 October 2014:
A local university student was shot dead in Sebha yesterday and her brother seriously wounded in . . .[restrict]a road-rage incident seen as linked to the current tribal divisions within the southern town.
Kathloum Abdulgader Saleh Al-Haderi, who was studying for her master’s degree, and her brother were involved in an accident outside the science college.
“She was with her brother in the car when they had a slight car accident. The other drive got out of his car immediately and shorted shooting at them, without any warning or thinking twice. The girl died immediately,” a neighbour of the victim told the Libya Herald.
The killing is being linked to the ongoing struggle in the town between the Awlad Suleiman and Qaddadfa tribes.
The Haderi family are members of the Qaddadfa tribe. According to the neighbour, also a member of the Qaddadfa, the driver of the other vehicle is a member of the Ashridat, the most power family within the Awlad Suleiman tribe.
“He is an Ashridat member,” the neighbour insisted. “People saw him shooting the victim,” he said. “It was just a slight car scratch and it ended in the death of this girl and her brother being wounded.”
Prior to the revolution the Awlad Suleiman and the Qaddadfa were close allies, but the Awlad Suleiman joined the uprising early on. Since then they have been bitter rivals. Fierce fighting last month in the town’s Manshiya district between the two, in which at least 15 people were killed, many more injured and several buildings damaged, was only ended in time for Eid after intensive mediation by members of Misrata’s Shoura Council and elders of the two tribes from outside the town.
In January last year, a dispute between the two over a stolen car resulted in fighting which left several people dead and wounded, and saw schools and local businesses in the area temporarily closed.
More recently, there were clashes in June in which at least eight people died and again early last month.
There are fears that this latest killing could trigger fresh fighting between the two tribes.
According to the dead student’s neighbour, residents in the Hay Al-Jadeed district where she lived have blocked the roads. [/restrict]
