At least nine people were killed and 49 wounded in clashes between Islamist militants and Libyan government troops in Benghazi.  Witnesses say the gunfire lasted for hours.

This round of fighting erupted after militants with the Islamist Ansar al-Sharia stopped a civilian at one of its checkpoints because he was carrying a weapon.  The militants alleged beat the man, and government special forces moved in.  Angry locals, sick of the infighting, descended on the militants’ base and set it on fire.

The army is urging everyone in Benghazi to stay home. 

“People are going about their business but schools are closed and the university has suspended classes until things settle down,” said Benghazi resident Adam Jhani-Stephens.

Ansar al-Sharia is one of the groups that formed an alliance to take part in the uprising that led to the fall of Moammar Gaddhafi in 2011.  They’ve been told by the interim government to disband or join the army by the end of the year, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.  As long as the groups keep their weapons, they keep the territory they occupy, and therefore they still have a place at the table in forming a post-Gaddhafi Libya.