At least 24 have been killed during violent crackdowns on anti-regime demonstrations across Libya, Human Rights Watch said on Friday. The attempted Libyan uprising, inspired by Tunisia and Egypt, called for a “Day of Rage” on Thursday to challenge the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. Gaddafi has ruled Libya for 41 years. Al-Arabiya reported on Friday that Libya's security forces and the Revolutionary Committees militia opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, mostly young people, in the city of Al-Baida. At least six were killed there, according to reports. A Geneva-based human rights group, Human Rights Solidarity, put the number at 13. “The Libyan authorities tried to smother this protest before it even got off the ground but that, clearly, did not work. Now they are resorting to brutal means to punish and deter the protesters,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa. Another six were shot dead by security in the northern Mediterranean city of Benghazi, where at least 38 others were injured on Tuesday, according to DPA. “Now the region's most oppressed, hermetically sealed nation has caught the fever of Internet-driven dissent, as young Libyans are embracing the power of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and online Arabic rap to voice unprecedented opposition to the regime,” wrote France24. BM
