BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – A Libyan Islamist militia was swept out of the eastern city of Benghazi in a popular protest against the armed groups that ran into the early hours of this morning, Reuters witnesses said.
Looters carried weapons out of the vacated Ansar al-Sharia military base compound as men clapped and chanted: “Say to Ansar al-Sharia, Benghazi will be your inferno.”
Ansar al-Sharia has been linked to the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last week in which the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans died. It denies involvement.
The action against the group appeared to be part of a coordinated sweep of militia headquarters buildings by police, government troops and activists following a mass public demonstration against militia units yesterday.
Chanting “Libya, Libya,” hundreds of demonstrators entered, pulling down militia flags and torching a vehicle inside Ansar al-Sharia’s headquarters in Benghazi – once the base of forces of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, which tried to put down the first protests that sparked last year’s uprising.
The crowd waved swords and even a meat cleaver, crying “No more al Qaeda!” and “The blood we shed for freedom shall not go in vain!”
“After what happened at the American consulate, the people of Benghazi had enough of the extremists,” demonstrator Hassan Ahmed said.
“They did not give allegiance to the army. So the people broke in and they fled.”
“This place is like the Bastille. This is where Gaddafi controlled Libya from, and then Ansar al-Sharia took it over. This is a turning point for the people of Benghazi.”
Adusalam al-Tarhouni, a government worker, who arrived with the first wave of protesters, said several pickup trucks with the group’s fighters had initially confronted the protesters and opened fire. Two protesters were shot in the leg, he said.
“After that they got into their trucks and drove away,” he said, adding protesters had freed four prisoners found inside.
As protesters left Ansar al-Sharia’s headquarters, the crowd swelled, reaching thousands as it headed toward its military base, which was shared with another militia group.
Protesters said the militiamen opened fire as they arrived and several people were wounded.
An ambulance driver said around seven people had been wounded. “We came as peaceful protesters. When we got there they started shooting at us,” student Sanad al-Barani said.
“Five people were wounded beside me. They used 14.5 calibre machine guns.”
After the crowd entered that compound, Libyan army trucks sped away from the base carrying government troops cheering in victory and crying out, “God is greatest.”
