Libyan protesters seeking to oust longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi have defied a crackdown and taken to the streets on what activists have dubbed a "day of rage". There are reports that more than a dozen demonstrators have been killed in clashes with pro-government groups.
Opponents of Gaddafi, communicating anonymously online or working in exile, urged people to protest on Thursday to try to emulate popular uprisings which unseated long-serving rulers in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt. "Today the Libyans broke the barrier or fear, it is a new dawn,'' Faiz Jibril, an opposition leader in exile, said.
Abdullah, an eyewitness in the country's second largest city of Benghazi, who spoke to Al Jazeera, said that he saw six unarmed protesters shot dead by police on Thursday.
Opposition website Libya Al-Youm (cache) said four protesters were killed by snipers from the Internal Security Forces in the eastern city of al-Baida, which had protests on Wednesday and Thursday, AP news agency reported.
Video footage posted on YouTube shows protesters in the city of Tubruq tearing down a 'Green Book' monument on Thursday. The Green Book is a book written by Gaddafi, which outlines his political views.