Feb. 20: As many as 300 protesters were killed on Sunday when Libyan security forces mowed down mourners with machine guns at a funeral for anti-government protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Protesters had defied a fierce crackdown by the Muammar Gaddafi regime, and had gathered on Sunday at a square outside a court building in Benghazi to demand his ouster.
According to witnesses, hundreds of demonstrators had gathered at the court building when the Libyan forces opened fire. The firing came a day after commandos and foreign mercenaries loyal to Col. Gaddafi pummelled demonstrators with rifles and other heavy weaponry as well as knives.
Mr Mohammed Abdullah, a Dubai-based member of the Libyan Salvation Front, said that the toll could be much higher. He quoted hospital officials in Benghazi saying that the death toll might have reached 300. A doctor claimed to have seen 200 bodies.
As reports of the massacre reached India, New Delhi issued a travel advisory on Sunday advising its nationals “to avoid non-essential travel to Libya” at present due to the “prevailing situation” there.
The ministry of external affairs said that all Indians in Libya, numbering about 18,000, were safe. There are around 2,000 people from Andhra Pradesh in Libya, said Mr Mohammad Abdur Razzak, president of Overseas Recruiting Agent Association of Andhra Pradesh.