In Libya Anti-Extremist Protestors Storm Islamic Militia Bases

BENGHAZI, Libya — Forces allied with the Libyan government took control of at least two powerful militias’ bases in the eastern city of Benghazi on Saturday after protesters overran the compounds in the early morning hours.

Clashes erupted outside one base, the stronghold of the influential Rafallah al-Sahati militia, leaving four people dead and dozens injured, according to Libyan state television.

The clashes followed a large-scale protest Friday in which thousands of people marched through the city demanding the dissolution of the militias that have run Libya’s streets in the absence of a strong central government and police force since a revolution ended the 42-year rule of Moammar Gaddafi last year.

Many Libyans have blamed extremist groups for the attack on the U.S. Consulate here last week that left four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador, dead. The groups have operated with relative impunity in the security vacuum that has prevailed since Gaddafi’s ouster and death.

On Saturday, fighters from a militia loyal to the government roamed the ransacked base of the Islamist militia Ansar al-Sharia, which many here have accused of leading the attack on the consulate.

“The ambassador was a good man. He ate with us. Even during the revolution he was with us,” said Riziq, a fighter with a government-allied militia across the street that had moved in to guard the abandoned compound and who declined to give his full name out of fear of retribution from Ansar al-Sharia.

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I have to admit this was not a news story I expected to read.