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More than 100 killed in Libyan protests
The death toll continues to rise as Libyan security forces reportedly opened fire at a funeral in Benghazi killing at least 15 people.
The 15 victims were mourning the loss of protesters who had been killed during anti-government demonstrations in the city during the past week, witnesses said. According to opposition groups, more than 100 have been killed during he six days of unrest as protests continue to rise against Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
Media reports from a hospital in Benghazi describe the situation as “a massacre”.
“The military is shooting at all the protesters with live bullets, I've seen it happen with my own eyes. The military forces are everywhere, even from the hospital I work, we are not safe. There was an 8-year-old boy who died the other day from a gunshot to the head - what did he do to deserve this?" a doctor told Al-Jazeera.
Another doctor from Benghazi said the hospital had received 15 bodies and was treating numerous people following the shootings at the funeral. He said the hospital had counted 44 deaths in total in three days, adding that it was struggling to treat the wounded.
"This is not a well-equipped hospital and these injuries come in waves. All are very serious injuries, involving the head, the chest and the abdomen. They are bullet injuries from high-velocity rifles,” the doctor explained.
The unrest in Libya has largely been centred in the eastern cities of Benghazi, Bayda and Tobruk. But news agencies report the protests have begun to spread to the country's west.
Witnesses said thousands of people took part in peaceful protests in the western city of Misurata. They were demonstrating against state brutality, rather than calling for a change in government.
Mohamed Abdulmalek, the chairman of Libya Watch - a human rights group that monitors abuses within the country - said the delay of protests in the west was due to the heavy presence of security forces there.
"The delay in the uprising in the west was not because the people did not want to go out," he said. "But the security presence in Tripoli, for example, was so intense that people gathered individually in the beginning. The Libyan regime anticipated this so the squares in Tripoli were occupied by security forces and therefore people were not allowed to gather.”
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As Egypt's internet blackout deepened, Avaaz and partners worked to send satellite internet equipment to organisers there. Now, Bahrain is scrambling to implement its own internet clampdown -- and we have the chance to provide critical support to ensure the blackout can't succeed. The communications equipment and support teams will help leaders to broadcast locally to organize rallies, communicate with other activists around the region, and provide information to the world if there is a blackout -- providing an essential counterweight to regime propaganda, and a form of protection to demonstrators through increased exposure and prominence.
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Across the Middle East -- in Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, and more countries every day -- autocratic regimes are trying to crush unprecedented peaceful protests with brutality and blackouts. These countries are poised on the brink between liberation and enormous bloodshed -- and the protesters' ability to reach the eyes of the world could determine the outcomes
The amazing live-feeds from Cairo’s Tahrir Square vitally sustained public support and broadcast the Mubarak regime's shameless violence against Egyptian demonstrators. As we watched the scenes of protest from around the world, hundreds of thousands of us signed the Avaaz solidarity petition--which was announced on Al Jazeera to ensure Egyptians knew of the world's support. Today, Egyptian protest leaders say that knowing the world was with them helped spur them on and helped stop moments of violence from becoming bloodbaths.
