The brother of a famed demining expert, the late Tariq Al-Saiti is reported to have been been injured in an explosion clearing a house in Ganfouda. Tariq was killed by a boobytrap in Sabri last July. His unnamed brother was hurt yesterday when he was trying to remove a mine.
Not far away, two men, thought to be brothers, were killed outright when they triggered a booby trap left in their home.
The challenge of defusing and making safe large numbers of properties once occupied by terrorists is putting considerable pressure on deminers from the Libyan National Army and the interior ministry’s mine-clearance teams. Tariq Al-Saiti had worked with the latter.
Residents returning to homes once caught up in the fighting are often finding extensive damage.
“The outside wall has been destroyed, the furniture littered with bullet marks and many of my possessions stolen or broken beyond repair,” despaired Mohamed Ali, a 38-year-old teacher.
He had been renting a flat in Barkah with his family but financial constraints forced his return to Garyounis this week. “I just can’t afford the 800 dinars a month I’ve been paying,” he told the Libya Herald.
His case is not uncommon. Two years ago Majdi, 31, fled Garaounis with his pregnant wife and mother. Now he is back home and with a young child, because he too can no longer afford the rent of an apartment, in his case in Sharah Al-Nasr. Large parts of his property have been damaged. But he is pragmatic.
“I’ve started to fix up the apartment and my family have moved back in. Tomorrow I’m handing back the keys to the owner of the flat I’ve been renting ” he said.
Ayhab, a 37-year-old bookshop owner, moved his large family back last week. On his little farm he has two homes. His parents and brothers live in one and his wife and two children in the other. Despite his home being “severely damaged” he too has begun to pick up the pieces of his former life, after staying in Kish for two years.
“We’ve started rebuilding the homes. In all honesty, they are not so bad that we couldn’t move back in” he said.
But going home is not so easy for everyone. Mohamed, a 21-year-old medical student, said his family couldn’t move back to Gwarsha because someone had been killed in their home and they were fearful it was now haunted.
Not far away, two men, thought to be brothers, were killed outright when they triggered a booby trap left in their home.
The challenge of defusing and making safe large numbers of properties once occupied by terrorists is putting considerable pressure on deminers from the Libyan National Army and the interior ministry’s mine-clearance teams. Tariq Al-Saiti had worked with the latter.
Residents returning to homes once caught up in the fighting are often finding extensive damage.
“The outside wall has been destroyed, the furniture littered with bullet marks and many of my possessions stolen or broken beyond repair,” despaired Mohamed Ali, a 38-year-old teacher.
He had been renting a flat in Barkah with his family but financial constraints forced his return to Garyounis this week. “I just can’t afford the 800 dinars a month I’ve been paying,” he told the Libya Herald.
His case is not uncommon. Two years ago Majdi, 31, fled Garaounis with his pregnant wife and mother. Now he is back home and with a young child, because he too can no longer afford the rent of an apartment, in his case in Sharah Al-Nasr. Large parts of his property have been damaged. But he is pragmatic.
“I’ve started to fix up the apartment and my family have moved back in. Tomorrow I’m handing back the keys to the owner of the flat I’ve been renting ” he said.
Ayhab, a 37-year-old bookshop owner, moved his large family back last week. On his little farm he has two homes. His parents and brothers live in one and his wife and two children in the other. Despite his home being “severely damaged” he too has begun to pick up the pieces of his former life, after staying in Kish for two years.
“We’ve started rebuilding the homes. In all honesty, they are not so bad that we couldn’t move back in” he said.
But going home is not so easy for everyone. Mohamed, a 21-year-old medical student, said his family couldn’t move back to Gwarsha because someone had been killed in their home and they were fearful it was now haunted.
Resource :https://www.libyaherald.com/2017/02/06/benghazinos-going-home-face-mines-and-booby-traps/
