Libyans on Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of their 2011 uprising that led to the overthrow and eventual killing of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
The day comes as Libyans have their eyes on a recently appointed government tasked with leading the country through elections late this year.
Celebrations began late Tuesday in the capital, Tripoli, where people gathered in the city’s main square amid tight security. The city’s main streets and squares have been cleaned and decorated with banners and photos marking the anniversary.
Festivities also rang out in other cities in the south, where fire works in the city of Sabha apparently injured some 15 people, according to Abdel-Rahman Arish, head of the city’s medical center.
Hassan Wanis, head of the general authority for culture in Tripoli, said celebrations and commemorative events were planned in the three regions of old Libya: Tripolitania in the west, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest.
“All people (across the country) are ready to celebrate specially this time in order to unify the country,” he said.
Libya has become one of the most intractable conflicts left over from the “Arab spring” a decade ago. In the years that followed Gadhafi’s ouster, the North African country has descended into devastating chaos and has become a haven for Islamic militants and armed groups that survive on looting and human trafficking.
