TRIPOLI — At least 16 people were killed on Saturday in new clashes between the Toubou people and Arab tribesmen in the southern Libyan desert oasis of Sabha, local and medical sources told AFP.
A doctor at Sabha hospital, treating Arab casualties, said eight people were killed and another 50 wounded in fighting between the early morning and noon. A Toubou tribal source said eight of their people were also killed.
"We haven't slept since yesterday. The Toubou have been attacking Sabha since three in the morning, and they very nearly took the city. All the residents have taken up arms to defend it," Dr Abdelrahman al-Arish told AFP.
Adem al-Tebbawi, a local Toubou official, spoke of eight dead and "several wounded" on his side.
Local sources said Toubou fighters who had been pushed back several kilometres (miles) south of Sabha launched a counter-attack very early on Saturday in a bid to re-enter the city.