Libyan government troops were deployed on the streets of Benghazi on Friday after thousands of people demonstrated overnight to protest about security forces killing more than 20 protesters on Thursdays' "Day of Anger." The protests against Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi saw the killing of at least 24 people in two of the country's biggest cities, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
In a detailed account of the unrest in Benghazi and Al-Baida, the New York-based organisation -- quoting unidentified witnesses -- told of security forces using fire with live ammunition on peaceful demonstrators on Thursday. "The security forces' vicious attacks on peaceful demonstrators lay bare the reality of Moamer Kadhafi's brutality when faced with any internal dissent," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
There are unofficial reports that the death toll is higher and that 45 protesters were killed.
