"More than 10 people were killed today in violent clashes between the Toubou and residents" of Sabha, Abdelrahman Seif al-Nasr, security chief of the southern Fezzan region, told AFP.
Accordng to Ali al-Dib, a former rebel, the clashes erupted in the city centre and resulted in between 15 and 20 dead among the ex-rebel forces.
"We have taken back the offices of the military council which were seized by the Toubou. The fighting is continuing and getting worse," he said by phone from Sabha, with the noise of automatic gunfire clearly audible in the background.
Mohammed al-Harizi, spokesman for the ruling National Transitional Council, was unable to give any further details when contacted by AFP.
However NTC member Mukhtar al-Jadal confirmed there had been fighting in Sabha, an oasis city in southern Libya, and said that NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil had met representatives from the south in an effort to broker a solution.
Toubou tribesmen have also been involved in deadly clashes with another tribe in the Saharan oasis of Kufra, where two ethnic groups are locked in a standoff over smuggling. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
