Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

top
US Marines salute during the transfer of remains ceremony for the four Americans killed in Benghazi, Libya/AFP

Africa

Libya says 50 held over US ambassador’s killing

Across the Muslim world protesters have since vented their fury at the “Innocence of Muslims” – an amateur film produced in the United States – by targeting symbols of US influence ranging from embassies and schools to fast food outlets.

Although the US government itself has condemned the film, protests erupted again on Sunday, with hundreds of students pouring into the streets of Kabul shouting anti-American slogans, as the Bangladesh government condemned the film as “reprehensible” and New Delhi called it “offensive.”

Belgian police said they detained 230 people in the northern city of Antwerp after clashes at a demonstration against the film.

Protests were also staged in Britain, Niger, Pakistan, Turkey and France, whose interior ministry said it would block any further anti-American demonstrations over the film.

With Muslim anger boiling, AQAP on Saturday called for more violence against US diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa, and urged attacks on American interests in the West, the SITE Intelligence Group said.

AQAP, Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni offshoot, did not claim direct responsibility for the deadly attack in Benghazi.

AQAP, Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni offshoot, did not claim direct responsibility for the deadly attack in Benghazi.

But it said the killing of Libi in a June drone strike in Pakistan “increased the enthusiasm and determination of the sons of (Libyan independence hero) Omar al-Mukhtar to take revenge upon those who attack our Prophet,” according to SITE.

In Afghanistan, heavily armed Taliban fighters on Friday stormed a strongly fortified air base in Helmand province where Britain’s Prince Harry is deployed, killing two US Marines in an assault the militia said was to avenge the anti-Islam film.

A NATO spokesman on Sunday revealed six US fighter jets and three refuelling stations were destroyed and six aircraft hangars damaged in the attack, the scale of which he said was unprecedented.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

A total of 17 people have died in violence linked to the film, including the four Americans killed in Benghazi, 11 protesters who died as police battled to defend US missions from mobs in Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen, and the two US soldiers in Afghanistan.

About The Author

Pages: 1 2 3

Comments
Advertisement

More on Capital News