Libya anti-government protests continue
Almaty. February 18. Kazakhstan Today - Thousands of people took to the streets overnight to protest against security forces killing more than 20 protesters, Kazakhstan Today reports.
Large protests have continued overnight in Libya following Thursday's "Day of Rage" against the government, BBC News reported.
Thousands came out on to the streets of the eastern city of Benghazi and activists also set up camps in al-Bayda, eyewitnesses said.
Confrontations between security forces and protesters left two dozen people dead and many wounded on Thursday, according to Human Rights Watch.
This week's protests are the first in Libya, where dissent is rarely allowed.
The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says violent confrontations are reported to have spread to five cities in demonstrations so far, but not yet to Tripoli, the capital, in any large numbers.
Our correspondent says the reports reflect an extremely tough government response, including the use of gunfire and even denying supplies to hospitals.
Funerals of some of those killed are expected to be held on Friday in Benghazi and al-Bayda, which correspondents say could spur more protests.
The killings happened after opponents of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's leader for more than 40 years, designated Thursday as a day of protest to try to emulate uprisings in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia which ousted entrenched leaders, Reuters informed.
On Thursday deadly clashes broke out in several towns after the opposition called for protests in a rare show of defiance inspired by uprisings in other Arab states and the toppling of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
Tight controls on media and communications in Libya made it difficult to assess the extent of the violence, but on Friday unverified reports on social network sites said up to 50 people had died. There was no official comment on the violence.
The United States said it encouraged Libya, like countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa, to take steps to meet the hopes and needs of their people, Heraldsun reported.
The Day of Anger was called to mark the deaths of 14 protesters in an Islamist rally in Benghazi in 2006.
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