Witnesses have said an armed group, claming to be Salafi's, carried out the assault on a Sufi shrine, it is the tomb of al-Asmar-the last resting place of a 15th century Muslim scholar.

Mohamed al-Teer, a witness, have said:"A group of criminals who have committed crimes against people inside and outside Zliten, entered and took cover in the mosque and fired at the revolutionaries. So the revolutionaries fired back. They killed and captured some of them and the others escaped."

The attackers have also set fire to a historic library, reducing years of academic and religious writing to ash.

While the official line from the government is condemnation, there are reports security forces stood by and just let this destruction go ahead.

Al Jazeera's Caroline Malone reports.