Ex-rebels fill Libya’s security vacuum

Force entrusted with curbing criminal activities and preventing attacks attracts both criticism and appreciation.

After the fall Muammer Gaddafi last year, Libya was left with a security vacuum. The interrim government had a strategy to improve safety by creating the supreme security committee (SSC).

There are now more than 100,000 former rebel fighters patrolling neighbourhoods across Libya to curb criminal activities and prevent attacks.

While human-rights groups accuse the SSC of making random arrests and running secret prisons where torture is common, some appreciate the work of these men and think that without them any government would be weak.

Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh reports from Tripoli.

Source: Al Jazeera