"Hifter’s troops have largely been driven out of the city and are now cornered"
Related: Hifter Failed
"Libya’s extremists tighten grip over Benghazi" by Maggie Michael | Associated Pres August 07, 2014
CAIRO — An umbrella group for eastern Libya’s extremist militias said Wednesday that it had overrun three more army bases in the eastern city of Benghazi and seized large amounts of heavy weapons, including armored vehicles, as militants tightened their grip on the country’s second-largest city.
The Benghazi Revolutionary Shura Council, composed of extremist militias like Ansar al-Shariah, posted pictures of its leaders posing in front of tanks, multiple rocket launchers, and artillery they claimed to have seized from the bases they overran.
The pictures could not be independently verified but in the past weeks the militants have seized several other bases belonging to the remnants of the Libyan army. An official in the city confirmed the militias’ recent victories and said they were now shelling the army’s remaining strongholds on the outskirts of the city.
Ansar al-Shariah is branded a terrorist organization by Washington and is accused of orchestrating the deadly assault on the US mission in Benghazi in 2012, killing four Americans including US Ambassador Chris Stevens.
The Islamist militias launched a counteroffensive after units loyal to General Khalifa Hifter, attempted to dislodge them from the city months earlier.
Despite support from several army units, including the elite special forces, Hifter’s troops have largely been driven out of the city and are now cornered in the Benina airport outside the city.
In other words, this U.S.-sponsored effort has ended in failure and disaster!
The security official said that the militias have been pounding the airport with grad rockets. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Hifter’s campaign announced in May has upset the delicate balance of power in Libya where militias formed to overthrow Moammar Khadafy in 2011 hold most of the weapons.
The militias have chosen different sides in the conflict and are now squaring off against one another across the country. Tripoli’s airport has been severely damaged after the Islamist-allied militia from the city of Misrata attacked the militia from the mountain town of Zintan holding it.
Lacking an effective army and police force after Khadafy’s overthrow, Libya’s transitional leadership put all militias on the government payroll granting them all a degree of legitimacy and impunity.
The fighting in Tripoli started last month and has prompted diplomats, foreigners, and Libyans to flee for the Tunisian border. More than 230 people have been killed and nearly 1,000 injured in the ongoing battles in Tripoli and Benghazi.
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Also see: ISIS is in Tunisia
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Libya calls for UN-supervised cease-fire" Associated Press August 08, 2014
TOBRUK, Libya — The newly inaugurated Libyan Parliament has threatened to act against warring militias who don’t abide by its call for an immediate cease-fire, which it said would be supervised by the United Nations.
The Parliament’s call late Wednesday is among its first since it convened in the eastern city of Tobruk, after violence swept through the capital, Tripoli, and Libya’s second-largest city of Benghazi.
The Parliament called Thursday on ‘‘all warring parties without exception,’’ to enact an ‘‘immediate and unconditional ceasefire, ending all violence and attacks on civilians and civilian areas.’’
Any UN supervision of a cease-fire would require approval from the Security Council.
Britain’s ambassador, Mark Lyall Grant, the current Security Council president, said: ‘‘I’ve just seen these reports. As far as I know we have not received any request for UN supervision of a cease-fire.’’
Also Wednesday, the Parliament made changes to a previous constitutional declaration, giving itself more powers it said would help it rein in militias.
The Parliament’s call could very well fall on deaf ears however, like several other appeals for cease-fires made by the outgoing interim government. Militias have grown in power since the toppling of dictator Moammar Khadafy in 2011.
The decision came as representatives of the governments of neighboring Egypt and Algeria, as well as the United States, expressed ‘‘deep concern’’ about violence in Libya and possible regional repercussions. In a statement issued after the representatives met Wednesday, the group urged for an immediate cease-fire and talks and expressed opposition to ‘‘outside interference in Libya’s transition.’’
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