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Africa North
Libyan Limp List
2020-04-30
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
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Africa North
Libyan al-Qaeda group disbands
2017-05-29
TRIPOLI: The Libyan jihadist group Ansar Al-Sharia, which is linked to Al-Qaeda and deemed a terrorist organization by the UN and United States, announced its “dissolution” in a communique published online on Saturday.

Washington accuses the group of being behind the September 11, 2012 attack on the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi in which ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

Ansar Al-Sharia is one of the jihadist groups that sprung up in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, in the chaos following the death of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. They overran the city in 2014.

East Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar earlier this month launched an offensive to oust jihadist fighters from their two remaining strongholds in Benghazi.

In its communique Ansar Al-Sharia said it had been “weakened” by the fighting.

The group lost its leader, Mohammed Azahawi, in clashes with Haftar’s forces in Benghazi at the end of 2014.

Most of its members then defected to the so-called Daesh group. Ansar Al-Sharia later joined the Revolutionary Shoura Council of Benghazi, a local alliance of Islamist militias.

At its zenith, Ansar Al-Sharia was present in Benghazi and Derna in eastern Syria, with offshoots in Sirte and Sabratha, western Libya.

The organization took over barracks and other sites abandoned by the ousted Qaddafi forces and transformed them into training grounds for hundreds of jihadists seeking to head to Iraq or Syria.
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Africa North
Details emerge of reported Serraj-Hafter agreement
2017-05-03
[Libya Herald] Although there has been no official statement so far on today’s talks in Abu Dhabi between Presidency Council head Fayez Serraj and Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, unconfirmed reports say that a number of points were agreed. These include reducing the Presidency Council to three rather than nine members, the fight against terrorism and the classifying of a number of organisations as terrorists, the removal of controversial supplementary Clause 8 of the Libyan Political Agreement, and fresh parliamentary and presidential elections within six months of an agreement being reached.

Other items agreed are said to be:
  • The formation of a new presidency council to comprise a president plus the head of the House of Representatives and the general commander of the Libyan armed forces;

  • No foreign interference in army and security affairs;

  • The dissolution of militias and armed groups;

  • Compliance with all Libyan judicial decisions; and

  • Rejecting the settlement of migrants in Libya.
Hafter and Serraj are also said to have agreed to set up working group to prepare a formal agreement. It is also reported that they will have another meeting to continue their discussions next week in Cairo and that it will be attended by Egyptian President Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Sisi was to have attend the talks that the two were supposed to have in the Egyptian capital in February but which failed to take place when Hafter refused to meet Serraj.

There is no news as to whether the LNA will call a new ceasefire in the south.

The decision on fighting terrorism may prove thorny if, as reported, it has been agreed that the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council (BRSC) and the Benghazi Defence Brigades are to be classified as terrorists because of their ties to Al-Qaeda via Ansar Al-Sharia, itself part of the BRSC. This will almost certainly be rejected by a number of Misratan groups as well as those allied to the grand mufti, Sheikh Sadek al-Ghariani.

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Africa North
LNA accused of war crimes in Ganfouda
2017-03-20
The caravan moves on
The exhumation and apparent mutilation of the corpse of Islamist leader Jamal Makhzoum has been condemned as an “heinous” war crime by the Libyan Nation Commission for Human Rights (LNCHR).

In a widely-shared social media video, the clearly-decomposing body of Makhzoum is shown strapped to the front of a car, kicked and then paraded by Libyan National Army (LNA) fighters. In an act of celebration they also shoot their guns in the air.

The LNA is accused of committing a war crime by the LNCHR, who described the incident as a “despicable and heinous crime incompatible with human values.”

Article 15 of the first 1949 Geneva Convention states parties to conflict when dealing with dead bodies must “prevent their being despoiled.” The LNCHR argued it was a “flagrant violation of the rules of law and international humanitarian law.”
To be sure, the Geneva Conventions are only binding on those nations that have signed off on them, and no one else. No one else encompasses quite a few extant nations and all sub-national groups, though it is a lovely standard to aspire to when your opponents are equally civilized.
It's also a useful distraction when you're getting your ass kicked...
In other photographs, dead militants can be seen thrown on top of each other, sprawled across the ground. LNA fighters also pose with the bodies and take ‘selfies.’

The Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC) announced this week that Makhzoum, their former leader, had been killed in Ganfouda.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari said yesterday they had found a mass grave of Islamist militants, including Ansar Al-Sharia commanders and the corpse of Makhzoum. Mismari said the Red Crescent was going to be recovering the other bodies.

Many social media users have said how disgusting the footage is. Some compare the behaviour of the soldiers to that of the so-called Islamist State. Images of hanged and mutilated corpses from the Qaddafi era have also been shared.

There has in addition been condemnation of the silence thus far of international diplomats.

The LNCHR called on the Benghazi attorney-general and the House of Representatives to open an investigation immediately.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Justice and Construction Party deplored the incident and in its turn called on human rights organisations to investigate.
No doubt. But that's because they aren't holding the winning hand there.
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Africa North
Ganfouda complex falls to LNA
2017-03-19
And all it cost was one (1) each MiG-21 fighter jet
After a siege lasting almost eight weeks, the militants in Ganfouda’s 12 Apartment complex were finally overwhelmed this morning in an all-out assault by the Libyan National Army during which a Mig-21 crashed.

A senior military source said 31 bodies were found in the buildings while a number of women was brought out alive. It is not known how many soldiers were killed or wounded in the final stages of the battle. At least 12 LNA men are known to have died and some 30 been wounded in the course of the siege.

During the intense fighting eight militants tried to escape and were caught.

On 25 March the LNA had declared the complete capture of the Ganfouda enclave into which the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council (BRSC) and their IS and Ansar Al-Sharia terrorist allies had been pushed in a campaign that properly began with a long and hard fight for the Leithi district in July 2015.

Yet it quickly emerged that that surviving militants had retreated to the 12 Apartments complex which they had fortified and apparently stocked with food and ammunition.

The Mig-21 crashed on a house in Buzira after delivering the last of a series of airstrikes to hit the 12 Apartments over two months. It is not known why it came down. The pilot ejected and it is understood no one was hurt on the ground.
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Africa North
2 die in Jufra air raid
2017-02-10
[Libya Herald] At least two people are believed to be dead and another 13 wounded following Libyan National Army air strikes on a Jufra air base.

Details are unclear, but sources say the main target appeared to be the Benghazi Defence Brigade militia allied to Islamist forces including the so-called Islamic State and Ansar Al-Sharia. However, there are other militias in the area including those from Misrata.

Before the attack local residents reported hearing the sound of planes overhead.

The LNA has reportedly launched other airstrikes against BDB militiamen in and around Hun and a force under Mohamed Ben Nayel had been pushing towards Sebha until stopped in December by the Misratan Third Force.

Only a few weeks ago, LNA planes hit a group of senior Misratan officials when they landed at a Jufra airbase. Six of them were wounded including the spokesman of the Misrata Military Council, Bayt Al-Mal.
Another Libya Herald article adds:
The aircraft attacking the Jufra airbase are believed to have taken off from the Al-Khadim base – allegedly used in recent weeks and put at the disposal of aircraft from the UAE. It is said to be a base for drones provided by the UAE.
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Africa North
Two soldiers and one militant leader die in fresh Ganfouda battle
2017-01-15
[Libya Herald] An Islamist commander is reported to have died along with two soldiers as the Libyan National Army renewed its assault on the Ganfouda terrorist enclave in Benghazi.

Fowzi Al-Fidi, whose family come from Gwarsha, was described by one army source as a commander in the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council and by another as an Ansar Al-Sharia leader. He was wounded by shrapnel yesterday in an air strike and is said to have died today.

However in today’s fighting, which included further air strikes, two members of the Saiqa Special Forces were also killed and a number of others wounded .

The LNA is claiming that it has occupied more areas of Ganfouda squeezing the militants into a yet smaller area. The terrorists remain cut off from the beach across which supplies and reinforcements were brought from Misrata until at least November when the the LNA launched its major assault.

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Africa North
Libyan jihadi leader meets Satan for a sit-down
2017-01-07
Benghazi, 6 January 2017:

Benghazi militant leader Wissam Ben Hamid is dead according to one of his colleagues who was arrested today near Ajdabiya by the Libyan National Army (LNA) while trying to flee.

Naizar Jalal Atwier, who was a spokesman for Ansar Al-Sharia in Benghazi, was caught east of Ajdabiya at a location named Al-Bidan. It is believed that he managed to escape from Ganfouda in yesterday’s mass breakout.

It was thought at the time that Ben Hamid had also managed to escape.

Interrogated today, however, Atwier said that Ben Humaid had been killed in a recent airstrike. According to LNA spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Mismari, it was at the end of December. Some reports say 28 December.

Since then, Atwier stated in a videoed interview, the militants in Ganfouda have been led by Jamal Makhzoum. He, apparently, is still there.

Ben Hamid who was originally commander of one of the main brigades in the city, Libya Shield No. 1 Battalion, was widely regarded as one of the most dangerous and ruthless of Benghazi’s Islamist leaders. He was suspected of being behind a string of political assassinations and murders in the city, among them the gunning down in June 2013 of 32 protestors outside Libya Shield No. 1’s Kuwafiyah base. That October, he was accused of ordering the murder of Colonel Ahmed Mustafa Al-Barghathi, the head of Benghazi military police, and his home in Kuwafiyah was burnt down by members of the Barghathi tribe. He then threatened revenge on the attackers.

In October 2015, evidence was produced suggesting that he had planned the murders of Mahdi Al-Barghathi, now the Presidency Council’s defence minister but then the commander of the LNA’s main tank battalion fighting the militants in Benghazi, and Salah Bughaib, the head of military intelligence unit in the city.

As the LNA offensive in Benghazi against the militants slowly managed to throttle them, Ben Hamid created new forces loyal to himself – a year and a half ago there was one called the Free Libya Martyrs Brigade. However, by the end of 2015, he had left the city and was at various times in Tripoli, Misrata and Jufra. By mid-2016 he was a leading figure in the Benghazi Defence Brigades, based in Tripoli, which were linked to controversial grand mufti Sadek Al-Ghariani and dreamed of wresting control of their city from the LNA.

In July last year, he accused Abdul Raouf Kara, the head of the Rada (Deterrance) units in Tripoli of being part of a “malicious clique”.

He was reported to be in Tripoli in November. Last month, however, Mismari said that he was trapped in Ganfouda along with Makhzoum and another militant commander, Salem Ben Shatwan.

Meanwhile late this afternoon, the bodies of 19 militants, all thought to have taken part in yesterday’s Ganfouda breakout, were taken to Ajdbiya hospital. It is believed they include 13 who blew themselves up today when they were surrounded by LNA forces at the village of Saunau east of Ajdabiya.
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Arabia
AQiA sez ISIS is devient
2016-12-16
Apparently ISIS is too bloodthirsty even for al-Qaeda
ADEN: Al-Qaeda in Yemen has labeled the rival Daesh group “deviant” and distanced itself from a Daesh-claimed suicide attack in Aden last week that killed dozens of soldiers.

“We explicitly declare that we were not involved in any way in this operation,” Ansar Al-Sharia, Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, said in a statement received Thursday by AFP.
"U!"
"No, U!"
"No, U!"
The Dec. 10 attack in Aden targeted a crowd of soldiers gathered to collect their monthly pay at a barracks in Al-Sawlaban near the southern city’s international airport.

The attack left 48 soldiers dead and 29 wounded, a health department chief said.

“At the request of the Ba Kazem tribe, which lost many of its sons in the attack, we are issuing this statement to prevent anyone trying to... sow discord between the tribes and their sons, the warriors of Ansar Al-Sharia,” the group said.

“We see Daesh as a deviant group... that has shown its enmity toward Ansar Al-Sharia and other Islamic groups,” it said.

The statement stressed that Al-Qaeda has repeatedly said it is determined to fight “Americans and their allies” while avoiding “the shedding of any Muslim blood.”

Al-Qaeda and Daesh have exploited a conflict between the Yemeni government — backed by a Saudi-led coalition — and Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control the capital Sanaa, to bolster their presence across much of the south.

The rival militants have carried out a spate of attacks in Aden, Yemen’s second city and headquarters of the internationally recognized government whose forces retook the southern port from the Houthis last year.
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Africa North
9 soldiers die in Tripoli fighting
2016-12-06
Sounds like ISIS has shifted forces to Tripoli
Benghazi, 5 December 2016:

Another senior officer was killed today as the Libyan National Army lost nine dead in bitter fighting in Benghazi’s Ganfouda district.

Mohamed Al-Busaifi of the Zawia Martyrs’ battalion was killed as the army sought to drive a wedge through terrorist positions, cutting off a coastal strip from the rest of the enclave. He is the third senior officer to die in the last week. Seven of the other soldiers to perish were in the 106 Battalion.

The army has given no figure for the number of wounded in today’s battle. However, around midday the Benghazi Medical Centre put out an appeal for extra staff to come to the accident and emergency department.

The terrorists launched two suicide vehicles towards army lines but both were destroyed by heavy gunfire before they could reach their targets. The detonation of one of the vehicles near the customs compound from which the militants were driven last week sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky. The army also claimed to have captured three technicals as well as an ambulance.

Once again there are no details of dead or wounded among the fighters of the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council and their IS and Ansar Al-Sharia terrorist allies. Nor has the army released any details of civilians seeking to flee the enclave.

The recent suicide bombing by at least one apparently-surrendering female in Sirte is likely to have reinforced the LNA’s demands that anyone wishing to leave the encircled area will have to be searched.
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Africa North
Libyan Army launches new attack on Benghazi
2016-12-01
Benghazi, 30 November 2016

The army has this morning launched a major assault on the Ganfouda terrorist enclave in Benghazi. At least 20 tanks are reported to have been attacking from the west while LNA forces appear to be pressing forward all around the perimeter while naval vessels bombard from offshore.

The assault, which began this morning in torrential rain, has seen an unknown number of casualties. Among the injured is the 298 Tank Brigade’s commander brigadier-general Naji Al-Moghrabi.

The LNA says that it has destroyed the terrorists’ only tank and has captured at least six militants. It is claiming that it now controls more than 90 percent of Ganfouda.

Roads cleared for wounded as Benghazi assault continues

From early this morning, police cleared the roads of traffic between the front line at Ganfouda and Benghazi Medical Centre to give ambulances an unrestricted run as the Libyan National Army began it major assault on the terrrosit enclave.

At least 24 soldiers were wounded in today’s fighting including the commander of the 298 Tank Brigade and one man is known to have been killed. Tomorrow the roads will remain cleared and Benghazi municipality has declared that all schools and most government offices will be shut.

Today the army claimed to have destroyed the only tank in the hands of the terrorists. Pictures were posted of social media of the tank being struck by a rocket propelled grenade and then burning. Later shots showed soldiers posing beside the burnt-out hulk. It is thought that this tank was captured from the army during fighting in Garayunis in July.

The military have also repeated a long-standing warning that it would sink any outside vessel that tried to reach the Ganfoud enclave.

The army is maintaining a tight control on details of its operations but it appears that several areas of the Ganfouda district, including a large customs pound with containers has been overrun.

There are no details for the number of terrorists nor civilians killed and injured in the fighting. There were reports that six militants had been captured early today but no pictures nor further information has appeared.

It has been a prime concern of both UNSMIL and NGOs including Human Rights Watch that civilians trapped in the terrorist enclave were at risk from the fighting. Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council published photos of a child killed in an air raid and a month ago a group shot of children holding up signs saying they were not getting enough to eat.

The army has always maintained that it was prepared to let civilians leave the area provided that they could be searched to confirm their identities. This the BRSC and its IS and Ansar Al-Sharia terrorist allies apparently refused to permit. The International Criminal Court has also latterly involved itself saying that it would be watching for war crimes committed against civilians.
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Africa North
Haftar forces claim victory in Benghazi
2016-11-18
BENGHAZI, Libya: The armed forces led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar announced a “great victory” against jihadist fighters in Libya’s second city of Benghazi on Thursday.

“We now have total control of the Qawarsha sector,” 10 kilometers (six miles) west of the center of Benghazi, said Ahmad Mesmari, spokesman for Haftar’s forces.

Mesmari hailed what he termed a “great victory” in what had been a stronghold of Ansar Al-Sharia, a group close to Al-Qaeda that is classified as a terrorist group by the United Nations and United States.

Haftar’s forces, called the Libyan National Army, were persuing the jihadists in Qanfouda, further west, one of the last remaining jihadist-held sectors of the Mediterranean city.

He did not give a casualty toll for the fighting but a military source said Wednesday that 12 of Haftar’s soldiers had been killed in clashes since Tuesday.

Thirteen “extremists” died in three days of battle, according to another spokesman for Haftar’s forces, Ali Al-Thabet, but there was no independent confirmation of that toll.

The US envoy to Libya, Jonathan Winer, on Thursday issued a rare show of support for the forces of Haftar, a controversial and divisive figure in Libya.

“Tough sacrifices by #Libya National Army soldiers this week reported — 20 killed & 40 injured in counter terror fighting in Benghazi,” he wrote on Twitter.

Benghazi, birthplace of the 2011 revolution which toppled Libya’s longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi, has been the scene of daily clashes for the past two years between Haftar’s forces and jihadist militias holding onto pockets of the city.

Five years after the revolution, the country is embroiled in violence and run by two rival administrations.
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