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According to some accounts deadly clashes in the Libyan city of Sabha were triggered when a pet monkey was deliberately set upon a group of schoolgirls. Photo: AP

Pet monkey incident triggers Libya clashes, leaving 20 people dead and 50 injured

At least 20 people died and 50 were wounded in Libya after an incident involving a monkey set off four days of clashes between rival factions in the southern city of Sabha, a health official said on Sunday.

According to residents and local reports, the latest bout of violence erupted between two tribes after a monkey that belonged to a shopkeeper from the Gaddadfa tribe attacked a group of schoolgirls who were passing by. By some accounts, the monkey was deliberately set upon the girls.

The monkey pulled off one of the girls’ head scarf, leading men from the Awlad Suleiman tribe to retaliate by killing three people from the Gaddadfa tribe as well as the monkey, according to a resident.

City officials could not be reached to confirm the accounts.

“There was an escalation on the second and third days with the use of tanks, mortars and other heavy weapons,” the resident said by telephone, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the denigrating security situation.

“There are still sporadic clashes and life is completely shut down in the areas where there has been fighting.”

Like other parts of Libya, Sabha has been periodically plagued by conflict since the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi five years ago splintered the country into warring factions.

In the Sabha region, a hub for migrant and arms smuggling in Libya’s often neglected south, militia abuses and the deterioration of living conditions have been especially acute.

The Gaddadfa and the Awlad Suleiman represent the most powerful armed factions in the region.

During the latest clashes, which took place in the city centre, initial attempts by tribal leaders to calm the fighting and arrange a ceasefire so that bodies could be recovered had failed, residents said.

Abdel-Rahman Areish, the head of Sabha Medical Centre, said 20 people have been killed and 50 wounded.

“There are women and children among the wounded and some foreigners from sub-Saharan African countries among those killed due to indiscriminate shelling,” a hospital spokesman said.

The city lies about 660km south of Tripoli.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Twenty killed, scores injured in clashes caused by monkey
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