Libyan security forces fired on thousands of mourners in Benghazi, the oil-rich nation’s second city, on Sunday as Muammer Gaddafi’s regime sought to quash a five-day uprising that poses the greatest threat to his 42-year rule.
Human Rights Watch, the New York-based organisation, said that the death toll in three days of violence had risen to at least 173 before Sunday, with 83 people shot on Saturday alone. At least 15 more died in clashes on Sunday, according to witnesses quoted by news agencies.
“A potential human rights catastrophe is unfolding as protesters brave live gunfire and death for a third day running,” said Sarah Leah Whitson at HRW. “Libya is trying to impose an information blackout but it can’t hide a massacre.”