By Libya Herald reporter.
Tripoli 16 March 2016:
Another of Tripoli’s historic mosques has been attacked and badly damaged by militants. Part of . . .[restrict]the Mizran mosque in the central Tripoli street bearing its name was bulldozed this morning. The vandals then went to the temporary structure serving as the Sidi Sha’ab Mosque opposite the Radisson Blu Macary Hotel and destroyed it.
The Sidi Sha’ab Mosque was bulldozed in 2012 by militants in an orgy of mosque attacks that continued into 2013.
The Mizran mosque, which once served a small suburb outside Tripoli escaped that wave of destruction. There was, however, an attempt a year ago to attack it but it was thwarted.
Today’s vandals destroyed the old guard room at the mosque. The old mosque itself is no longer used for prayers. A modern, larger and air-conditioned prayer hall was built behind it some years ago to meet the needs of the large number of Tripoli residents who prefer to use it rather than others closer to home.
Despite the use of a bulldozer, there was no attempt to stop the vandals who are presumed to have thought there were graves in the mosque. “There has been response from the Awqaf [the endowments ministry in charge of the mosque] nor from the Grand Mufti nor from Tripoli council”, one angry resident who regularly uses the Mizran mosque told the Libya Herald.
The most recent major attack was just over a year ago on the Al-Manara El-Jafaaria mosque in the suburb of Swani.
