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| Africa North | |
| At least 30,000 Killed, 50,000 Wounded in Libyan Conflict | |
| 2011-09-09 | |
[Tripoli Post] Libya's interim health minister in the country's new leadership, Naji Barakat said that at least 30,000 people have been killed and 50,000 more maimed, including some 20,000 with serious injuries, during the over six-month conflict that began in mid-February in Benghazi.
...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland... from power after his 42-year rule. Up till now, the figures published and/or mentioned by various media had been rough estimates The figures just announced, Barakat said, are based in part on reports from hospitals, local officials and former rebel commanders. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... he will only have a complete count in several weeks, expecting the final figure for dead and maimed to be higher than his current estimates after the battles expected in the last remaining l Qadaffy strongholds. Speaking to the News Agency that Dare Not be Named on wednesday, the interim health minister said that at least 4 000 people are still missing, either presumed dead or held prisoner in remaining Al Qadaffy strongholds. Others killed in fighting were hastily buried, and are now being exhumed for identification by specialised teams who also continue to find secret graves of detainees killed by retreating Al Qadaffy forces. One such grave just dug up unearthed more bodies in one area of the Libyan capital Tripoli and two other towns. In an attempt to get a more detailed figure, Barakat said that next week, worshippers in local mosques will be asked to report the dead and missing in their families. Barakat went on to say that of the estimated 30,000 dead, about half are believed to have been Al Qadaffy fighters. He added that he has also been told that by Libya's new military officials that the Khamis Brigade, commanded by Al Qadaffy's son Khamis and a core force in Al Qathaf's army, lost about 9 000 troops. One of the hardest hit areas was the port city of Misrata, where former rebels and Al Qadaffy loyalist forces fought for two months. Citing new figures from the local council at Libya's third largest city, he said that at least 2 000 former rebel fighters and non-combatants were killed there. Thousands more were maimed, including 900 who lost limbs, He said that reporting is incomplete for the western areas of the country that remained under Al Qadaffy's control until close to the end of the fighting, including the capital of Tripoli. Barakat added that little is known about the number of people killed during a brutal crackdown on mass opposition protests in the spring in those areas. The former rebels entered Tripoli on August 21, and up till the time they took control of the Libyan capital after a week of fierce street battles, at least 1,700 former rebel fighters died along with about 100 civilians | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Wait until the mass graves show up. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-09-09 12:28 |
| #1 And it's just starting. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-09-09 03:19 |