6 Libyan security forces 'executed' in Benghazi

Six members of Libya's security forces who were apparently "executed" were among 11 people killed in clashes in Benghazi between protesters and a militia linked to the defence ministry, a medical examiner told AFP on Saturday. "From the nature of the wounds it is clear that the six were executed," the medical examiner said on condition of anonymity, adding that four of them were shot in the head while the others were shot in the chest as well as the head. According to the medical examiner, who works at the Benghazi Medical Centre morgue, "all six worked in the army or police according to relatives who identified the bodies." "In total we've received 11 fatalities" she said. Four of them were in "civilian clothes" while one other body was found at the headquarters of the Raf Allah al-Sahati Brigade, an Islamist militia under the authority of the defence ministry Khaled al-Aghuri, an official at the prosecutor's office confirmed the toll, and said the bodies of the six members of the security forces were found "in Mashrua al-Safsafa, in the area of Al-Gawasha, which is in the periphery of Benghazi." Around 70 people were wounded in the overnight violence, according to medics at Benghazi's three main hospitals, who earlier had given a death toll of four only. Armed demonstrators protesting against militias clashed with a government unit of ex-rebels overnight. Early Saturday the protesters seized the headquarters of the Salafist group Ansar al-Sharia, as well as a raft of other paramilitary bases in Benghazi, Libya's second city. Ansar al-Sharia has been accused of, but denied, involvement in the murder of US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans who were killed when the consulate in Benghazi was attacked on September 11. On Friday tens of thousands of Libyans took to the streets to protest against the powers of armed militias.