On August 23, the Libyan capital Tripoli and other cities saw a new type of day, as it witnessed the emergence of peaceful demonstrations led by young people who were not ideologized and did not take orders from any party.
The story began in Tripoli, which has the largest share of poor services, where a movement called itself the “Movement of Youth”, with a march of hundreds at the beginning, but the sounds quickly rose throughout the city, turning the number of protesters to thousands.
The protesters of the movement organized themselves in groups that met at certain points, from which the destination was to the Martyrs Square, then from these points to Gurji and Hay Al-Andalus neighborhoods to a gathering point by the People’s Hall, the Abu Salim area of the Al-Quds Mosque, then Al-Furnaj and Ain Zara, while the meeting point of the Tajoura protesters was from Al-Baladiya Street and Al-Shatt Road.
These marches heading to the Martyrs Square were accompanied by civilian cars with tinted windows aimed at documenting the event and controlling the demonstrators, who were gatherings of young men.
What is striking about these protests is that hundreds of women came out of their own accord and took the slogans of the demonstrations as their drive to march, and it is also noticeable, according to witnesses, that they were not driven by certain ideologies.
After the protesters arrived at the capital’s largest squares, “Martyrs Square” and their numbers began to increase, they were divided into three groups, one group stayed in Martyrs Square and another headed to the headquarters of the Presidential Council from Al Baladiya Street, where there was an attack on one of the security cars, and the third group was determined to proceed from Al-Shatt Road towards the Al-Mahary Hotel, where the Supreme Council of State is based. From there, the story of shooting demonstrators by a group belonging to Al-Nawasi armed faction stationed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building and the Radisson Blu Hotel “Al-Mahary”, Bu Sitta and Shaab areas.
Then the Al-Nawasi armed faction advanced, firing on the peaceful and unarmed demonstrators and remained ahead on Al-Shatt Road until it reached the Martyrs Square and continued shooting at the protesters to disperse them until late at night, causing civilian casualties.
From that moment, Tripoli became the target of shooting and arrests, and the protests expanded to reach a number of areas of the city, as a number of cities in western Libya participated in the movement.
Returning to the reason for these protests, the organizers say in a statement obtained by 218News, that their movement has neither ideologies nor political affiliations. It believes in providing constitution drafting, calling for the citizen’s voice to be heard through the ballot boxes and preparing for elections under international supervision.
