Bulgaria urges caution about travel in Libya - Sofia Echo

Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry has urged Bulgarians to avoid travel in the eastern part of Libya, especially in cities including Benghazi and Tobruk.

The ministry advised Bulgarians to avoid gatherings in public places and asked Bulgarians resident in Libya to keep contact with the embasy in Tripoli, providing contact details.

"We do not recommend travel in areas near the borders with Chad, Libya, Sudan, Niger and Algeria," the Foreign Ministry in Sofia said.

The warning was issued as international media reported serious violence in Libya, where protests have erupted in some cities, the latest in a series of such protests in North African and Middle Eastern countries.

The Voice of America reported that after five days of unrest, the death toll was estimated by US-based group Human Rights Watch as at least 173.

Eyewitnesses said on February 20 2011 said that in Benghazi, Libyan security forces fired on mourners attending a funeral for protesters killed the previous day.

The BBC said that more than 200 people were known to have died, according to doctors, with 900 injured.

CNN reported that violence flared again on February 20, as Libyan protesters used an explosives-laden car in an attempt to gain entry into a military camp in Benghazi.

Twenty-five people died in violence on February 20, according to a doctor at Benghazi's Al Jalla Hospital. The total death toll was 209, CNN said.