Celebrations for anniversary of the fall of Gadhafi

 

Hundreds marched through the streets of Tripoli on Tuesday to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the uprising that toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Crowds were seen gathering in Tripoli's Martyr's Square, cheering and singing while the streets were decked with Libya's revolutionary flag.

However, jubilant scenes in Libya's capital were contrasted by the ongoing conflict in other parts of the country.

Libya has been roiled by instability and violence since the ousting of the Gadhafi regime in late 2011.

The latest round of fighting in Libya started last spring, when eastern-based forces under the command of Khalifa Hifter launched an assault on the capital in a bid to wrest power from the UN-backed government.

The siege has killed thousands of people, and displaced over 150,000 others, according to the UN.

But demonstrators in Tripoli on Tuesday were defiant against Hifter's self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces.

"We don't need any regime, military regime again whatsoever. And Hifter he will not come to Tripoli whatsoever", said Tripoli resident Abdullah Bukra.

Others, such as Tripoli resident Abdul Kerim, are simply against conflict in the country.

"War always means destruction, and the best solution is negotiation. To sit and agree. This is the best thing for Libyans", he said.

The United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia, support Hifter's forces.

The embattled Tripoli administration, which controls just a shrinking corner of western Libya, has increasingly relied on Turkey for military aid.

In the latest twist of the nine-year conflict, Turkey, which has long trained and funded opposition fighters in Syria, has started airlifting hundreds of them over to support the Tripoli-based government.