TRIPOLI: A flare-up of fighting between rival militias in the west of Libya has killed 14 people, the countrys interim leadership said on Tuesday, and officials announced the despatch of a force to restore order.
The clashes, between members of the Berber ethnic minority and their Arab neighbors around the town of Zuwara, are a fresh test for the government which has struggled to assert its authority since a revolt last year ended Muammar Qaddafis rule.
Militias from inside the predominantly Berber town, about 120 km (75 miles) west of the Libyan capital, were exchanging mortars and large-calibre fire with fighters from the nearby Arab settlements of Al-Jumail and Regdalin for a third day.
The fighting around Zuwara, on the Mediterranean coast, is typical of the kind of tribal and ethnic conflicts that have flared up since Qaddafis fall. In most cases the violence is the result of a toxic mix of vendettas that have been simmering for generations, the huge quantity of weapons in circulation since the revolt, and the lack of a strong central authority.
| In other words, the usual since the end of the western Roman Empire... |
There are heavy clashes at the entrance to Regdalin, (and) heavy bombing from Al-Jumail on Zuwara, Iyoub Sofian, from the Zuwara local council, told Reuters by telephone.
Mohammed Al-Harizy, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC), told a news conference that four people from Zuwara were killed and 10 from the opposing side. He also said 80 people had been injured on both sides and the fighting continued.
Fawzi Abdel Aal, the Interior Minister, earlier told reporters his men would intervene.
We have prepared a force of 200 men from the Interior Ministry which has been directed to the region, he said in Tripoli. Aal said he was also coordinating with the national army for a contingent of troops to be sent to the area.
I am asking the two sides to restrain themselves ... because there will be no winner in this battle, he said. 
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