Libya Fighting Spills Into Tunisia

The New York Times reports:

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan forces in more than a dozen military vehicles and armed with anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers crossed the border with Tunisia and were involved in clashes in a frontier town Friday, witnesses said. Tunisia's government was outraged and demanded Libya halt all incursions into its territory.

There were different accounts from witnesses of exactly what happened in the Tunisian border town of Dhuheiba, about three miles (five kilometers) from the border. But several said Tunisian troops captured and disarmed some of the loyalists of Libya leader Moammar Gadhafi and drove others out of town. Three Tunisians were hurt, they said.

The Tunisian government expressed "extreme indignation" over the violation of its territory.

Ismail al-Wafi, a Dhuheiba resident, said the Libyan forces drove into the town and fired indiscriminately. He said Dhuheiba residents clashed with the Libyans and Tunisian troops eventually captured some and took their weapons.

Another witness said Libyan troops clashed with Libyan rebels in Dhuheiba before they were defeated by Tunisian troops. Some of the Libyans were captured and the others chased out, said the witness, who only gave his first name, Akram, for fear of reprisals.

"Gadhafi forces are no longer in Dhuheiba. They were defeated," he said.

The Tunisian news agency TAP said Tunisian forces fired in the air, but did not clash with Libyan troops.

Dhuheiba resident Mohamed Hedia said angry civilians in the town and the families of Libyan rebels who had been staying there set upon the Gadhafi troops, creating a "chaotic situation." Tunisian forces fired warning shots, Hedia said.

The Dhuheiba border crossing between Libya and Tunisia has been a flashpoint in recent days. The crossing has been changing hands repeatedly between rebels and regime forces.

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