Tripolitania and Tripoli
An editorial in the Guardian on 28 August wrote that three-quarters ofLibya's arms are under the control of the militias, who had seized vast quantities from former regime stores. While the majority consist of assault rifles and machine guns, they also include heavier items such as anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. The article claimed that there are around 20 million weapons that proliferate in Libya today, along with the necessary ammunition. The writer suggested a weapons exchange program as the best means to bring rebel militias under control.
According to the Libyan Press Solidarity news source on 28 August, the National Army’s Tiniri Brigade surrounded the village of Al Disa in Wadi Al Ajal, near Sabha, after a taxi driver was killed and his body was put on display. The driver was accused by the villagers of theft. The news source reported a dramatic increase in crime around Al Disa, with robberies occurring daily.
On 28 August, the Ministry of Interior’s High Security Committee (HSC) said that seventeen people were arrested on charges of destroying Al Sha’ab shrine and assaulting cultural landmarks. Further reports from the HSC also claimed that more than forty people, including former regime's loyalists, were arrested following the attacks on Sufi shrines in Zliten last week. Press Solidarity also carried a statement on 28 August by the Islamist militia Ansar Al Sharia, denying reports it had ordered the Sufi Al Fituri shine’s destruction. The group condemned attacks against all Muslim’s.
On 28 August,Tripoli’s HSC stormed a house in the Abu Salim neighbourhood and arrested several personnel who were reported to be Qadhafi regime loyalists. Weapons, military equipment and communications devices were recovered. According to other unconfirmed reports, the raid led to further security operations including the arrests of one person in Abu Salim, two in Souq Al Jumaa, and another in Ain Zara.
Tripoli-based Al Dir’ii consulting group claimed that around fifty armed men desecrated the Othman Pasha Mosque and Madrassa in the old city on 28 August. The report speculated that those involved were Salafists. Further reports attributed to a staff member at the Madrassa claimed that the attack to place during the early hours and that thirty graves and several historic texts were destroyed and that HSC personnel he did nothing to prevent the attack.