Today coincides with 1996’s June11 Stadium Massacre in Libya
On Tuesday, July 09, 1996, Gaddafi’s security personnel opened fire on the spectators of the football derby between Al-Itihad and Al-Ahli at Tripoli's June 11 Stadium, killing at least 60 and wounding 150 others, according to eyewitnesses, who were present at the match then.
The derby, which took place as part of the Libyan Soccer League matches with a number of more than 50 thousand spectators at the stadium, was attended by the two sons of slain dictator, Muamar Gaddafi, Mohammed cheering for Al-Itihad and Saadi cheering for Al-Ahli.
The massacre happened once the referee whistled the end of the match with Al-Ahli winning 1-0. Immediately, the security personnel appeared on the pitch and opened fire on the spectators with orders they received from Muamar Gaddafi, who later shut down the two sports clubs because he saw their huge numbers of supporters as a threat to his power.
Local sources reported that the killing order was executed by Gaddafi’s 223 Brigade using Kalashnikovs, and after that, each one of the families of the killed spectators was given $1,500 for their beloved ones, whose bodies were only given to them when they were forced to sign that their sons were hooligans.
This massacre has been a kind of cover to the bigger massacre committed by Muamar Gaddafi ten days before July 09 in Abu Salim prison, where his brigades killed almost 1200 prisoners in cold blood inside the prison’s square.
