Two people were killed and several others injured Saturday in clashes between the Libyan army and tribes in the south-east of the country, officials, tribal and medical sources said. Clashes erupted in the early hours of the day in the city of Al Kufra, near the border with Chad and Sudan, where Libyan forces were deployed in February to try to ease tensions and rivalries between Toubou fighters and militiamen from Zwai tribe.
"The Toubou tribe launched an attack on the town, the army returned fire and the fighting continues," said Aboukhalil Mouftah, Member of the Local Council. Two people were injured in the violence, he added, without providing further details.
For his part Shakai Hussein, representing Toubous said that his tribe was attacked and reported one of his men killed and five injured. According to Aboubark Taher, a doctor in a local hospital, one person was killed and five others were injured. "There are four wounded at the clinic," he said.
An official from the national army, Mayar Al Sharif, confirmed the clashes illustrate the ongoing chaos and ethnic tensions in Libya ten months after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Toubou are located mainly in Chad but some live in southern Libya.
