The home of Beni Walid Local Council Member Ibrahim Mohammed Shaqaaf was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade on 22 August; his eight year old daughter was reported to have been wounded in the explosion. Separately, Amana Mahmoud, National Assembly member from Beni Walid, released a statement condemning the spate of recent bombings inTripoli. Beni Walid is widely viewed in Libya as a bastion of pro-Qadhafi or at least anti-government, sentiment.
On 21 August, media reports claimed the reemergence of ‘technical’s’ (civilian vehicles mounted with heavy machine-guns) had been reported at a number of checkpoints throughout Tripoli. One report claimed that the measure was in response to heightened anxiety over security in the capital and in particular the increase in tension between liberals and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Ministry of Interior was also reported to have circulated a memo to the heads of security agencies within the capital, instructing officials to stop cars without license plates or with tinted windows. On 23 August, unconfirmed reports claimed that security forces had defused an explosive device in Tripoli's Saladin neighborhood.
Reuters and a number of other news agencies reported that armed clashes took place on 23/24 August in Zliten, 160km south-east of Tripoli. The clashes were between the Al Haly and Al Fawatra tribes, which left at least three dead and eight wounded. Separate reports claimed that the clashes were between Zliteni groups and members of the Awlad Al Sheikh tribe who live in the area. Violence was reported to have subsided when National Army elements interceded.
On 24 August, the tomb of Abdel Salam al-Asmar, a sixteenth century Sufi theologian was partially destroyed in Zlitan. Some reports claimed that the attack against the shrine was connected with the ongoing clashes in the city, however the Libya Herald reported that a senior Sufi figure claimed that the shrine was deliberately targeted by Salafists elements, not connected with the recent clashes. It was also reported that Salafists had previously attempted to attack the shrine in early March, but were stopped by local elders.
A second Sufi shrines was damaged in a separate incidents in Tripoli on 25 August, when a Sufi mausoleum in the capital housing the remains of the Sufi saint Al-Shaab Al-Dahmani, was severely damaged by a number of attackers using plant machinery. In response and after calls for protests on social networks, a number of demonstrators gathered in Algeria Square in the center ofTripoli on 26 August, denouncing the attacks. Both attacks were blamed on Sunni Salafist groups who consider the Sufi Muslim sect as idolatrous and not true Muslims. Further scuffles were reported at the shrine on 26 Aug between protesters and Salafists, which also included the physical assault and abduction of an Imam who had tried to reason with the Salafists against the destruction of the shrine.
On the afternoon of 26 August,Libya's Interior Minister, Fawzi Abdelali resigned after criticism from Congress over his handling of a number of recent violent incidents in the capital and across the country, including the attacks on the Sufi shrines over the weekend. Reports indicate that security around a number of Sufi locations in the capital has been increased to prevent further incidents.